The Right Kinda Wrong
by BrokenCliche
Summary: It was a whole big love rectangle, plus one...but now it's not. It's just me and her trying to survive him.' Baley.
1. Chapter 1

**The Right Kind of Wrong.**

**Summary: It was a whole big rectangle, plus one...but now it's not. It's just me and her trying to survive him. Baley**

**Rating: R, due to violence.**

**Pairing: Nathan/Haley to start, mentions of Brooke/Lucus. Main pairing Baley (Brooke/Haley)**

**Timeline: Just after Suddenly Everything Has Changed. Season One, Episode 15. The only difference is, Peyton and Lucus stay together. Afterwards, it's goes prtty much on it's own.**

**Disclaimer: I could only wish to own Bethany Joy Lenz or Haley James, but in reality I don't. Sucks to be me huh? All characters used in this is purely for the purpose of fiction. Mark Schwahn, is the lucky guy who owns the Tree Hill gang.**

**Warning: This is femslash people. If the idea of a girl and a girl being a couple offends you in anyway, then I guess you're not gonna wanna read this. But if you're not into the girl/girl thing, and still wanna read, carry on. I welcome it! **

**A/N: OK, this is my first OTH fanfic, cause I personally thought this section needed more Baley. I would LOVE to know what you'll think of this, so if you'd be kind enough and click on the review button on the bottom of this page then it'd be greatly appreciated, like you wouldn't believe. Flames are welcomed, I do need to find out where I'm going wrong. Phew that was long winded huh? Now that we have all the unimportant stuff outta the way, let's get to the important stuff, on with the story!**

**Chapter One: People Can Be Deceiving.**

The sun was up high and shining bright, there were birds singing, flying in the sky. OK, maybe there weren't any birds singing, but the sun was definitely shining down upon her. Haley James was your ordinary student, straight A's and everything. Sometimes being a tutor paid off. She wasn't popular by any means, which was why every now and then, she had to pinch herself. Why? She was dating none other than Nathan Scott, Tree Hill High's very own basketball player.

Walking along the empty corridors of Tree Hill High, Haley couldn't help but smile when she thought of Nathan. Her _boyfriend_. Reaching the door's of the gym hall, she pushed them open, only to witness the ball Nathan had flung mere seconds before, sail through the sir and land perfectly as it swooshed through the net.

"Go Nate! Go Nate" Haley cheered as she announced her presence, causing Nathan to turn around towards her. With a smile he jogged over to where she stood. As he reached her, he leaned forward and grazing her cheek with a sloppy kiss.

"Your tutoring session over with" he asked her.

"Sure is, I'm all your's now baby." she told him with a happy laugh.

"Cool babe, let me go get cleaned up and changed and I'll see you in a bit." Nathan told her, with another kiss on the cheek, before heading to the locker room.

After watching him walk to the locker room and disappear behind the doors, Haley moved over to the benches and sat down. Crossing her arms, she rested them on her knees. She couldn't help but think of how lucky she was to have Nathan in her life. He was the one constant thing in it. Her parents were always away someplace, or on yet _another _drive around in their RV, and even Lucus had been MIA for the past week or so. She figured it had something to do with Peyton. It was always about Peyton recently. Ever since he had broke it off with Brooke and got together with Peyton, Haley hardly ever saw him. She didn't really mind though, he was happy. She couldn't help but wish that he had told Brooke sooner, before she had seen them together on Peyton's web cam. Brooke hadn't been her usual perky self since, and as much as Haley hated to admit it, she did miss that Brooke. Maybe she'd go and see her sometime during the week, ask her if she was alright and if there was anything she could do.

"Yo, Haley! Are you in there" Nathan's voice broke through her thoughts. Looking up at him she smiled. "I've been calling your name for like 5 minutes, where'd you disappear to"

"I was just thinking about somethings." Haley told him.

"What sort of things" he wondered.

"Nothing important."

"If _you_ were thinking about it, then it _had_ to be, or else you wouldn't have been in such deep thought. So tell _me_ or is it some sort of secret" Nathan questioned, sounding almost jealous.

Frowning, Haley's eyebrows came together, and she wondered who the _hell_ was standing in front of her. It was a side of Nathan she had never seen, it was almost as if he had done a Jekyll and Hyde, and right now she didn't like his Hyde. "Chill Nathan, I was just thinking about Brooke, and how she hasn't been the same since Lucus and Peyton got together." she finally answered.

"That's my _brother _for you" Nathan remarked sarcastically. "Always going after my seconds. You have to wonder if he has _any_ brains, I mean he chose _Peyton_ over _Brooke_? Why anyone would do that is beyond me. Give up a girl like _Brooke Davis_, you'd have to be out of your mind."

"What's that supposed to mean" Haley asked him with narrowed eyes.

"Oh come on Hales, Brooke Davis" Nathan cracked, with a raised eyebrow and a brash laugh. "Everyone knows, she's easy. All you have too do is get her drunk, and she's yours." he explained.

"Are you speaking from experience"

"Nope, why would I want Brooke Davis, when I have none other than Haley James" Nathan asked her as he walked up to her, pulled her to him. "You're the only girl I want."

"Really" Haley asked with a shy smile.

"Really." Nathan answered, hugging Haley to her, hiding a smug smile behind Haley's back.

**xxxx**

After leaving school, Nathan tagged along as Haley went home. The house was empty as usual, so it was just her and Nathan. Haley had become accustomed to the silence of her home, it was almost calming, and that odd time her parents or sisters _were_ home, and the house wasn't silent, it didn't feel right. Right now, they were in her room, studying.

"Nathan, if you don't try, then how are you gonna pass this next test huh" Haley asked him, as he lay on her bed, flipping through a random magazine.

"Baby, why do I wanna study, when I have you to look at" Nathan asked her rhetorically, as he sat up on the bed. "Come here." he told her. Putting down her notes, Haley got off of her chair and walked over to where Nathan was sitting. Leaning up, Nathan captured her lips with his own, in a slow kiss. Leaning back onto the bed he brought her with him, until she was laying on top of him. "This is more like it" he mumbled against her mouth, as he rolled them over so he was on top. Nathan's left hand cupped Haley's face deepening the kiss, as his other hand slid down her side until it reached the hem of her t-shirt, it disappeared under the t-shirt and ran along her stomach a few times, before it started inching up. Nathan's tongue ran along the length of Haley's bottom lip, demanding entrance. A second later it slipped in and within seconds it was dueling with Haley's own.

Haley herself, was lost in the moment, just enjoying the sensations that kissing Nathan caused her. She wasn't very experienced when it came to kissing, well dating in general. Nathan was her first real boyfriend. She wondered if it felt like this every time you kissed someone, or if it just happened when you were kissing the_ one_.Either way she was enjoying it. Until she fully registered where Nathan's other hand was heading. Jerking away from the kiss, Haley scooted back until Nathan was no longer touching her.

"What are you doing" she demanded, with wide eyes.

"I thought that would have been obvious" Nathan replied. "I was trying to get closer with my girlfriend."

"Nathan" Haley exclaimed. "I told you, I won't do anything until I'm married"

"God, you're such a tease" he shouted at her, making her shrink back at the tone of his voice. "You bring me home to your _empty_ house, up to your empty _bedroom_ and expect me not to want to kiss my girlfriend. No one else's girl is as frigid as you are! What, are you too ashamed to let anyone see your body? Is it that disgusting? Is that it? You're nothing but a obese bitch that's ashamed of her body? Don't worry sweetie" he sneered. "I'll take what I can get." he finished as he advanced on her, pulling her to him and crushing there mouths together.

This definately didn't have a good sensation, it was such a bad sensation that Haley felt her stomach drop. Why was Nathan doing this? He hadn't always been like this had he? Did Peyton go through this? Was he going to hurt her? Was she going be ok? All these questions ran like a speeding bullet through her head, over and over again. Struggling against Nathan's grip, she tried to wriggle free, but Nathan's grip just got tighter. Tears sprang to her eyes, and she screwed them shut so none would fall. She felt him roughly move away from her mouth and attack her neck and then moved down to her shoulder, nipping and biting it. Groaning in pain, Haley realised Nathan wasn't going to stop anytime soon, she had to stop him some way. Gathering all the strength she had, she pulled her hands free from his grip, making him come to a halt and pulling back. Just as he was about to say something, Haley pushed him with all her might off of her bed, sending him flying to her bedroom floor.

"Get out" She demanded.

Getting to his feet Nathan looked at her. "Haley..." He started.

"I said GET OUT" She yelled.

With his head falling forward, Nathan turned around and silently walked out the room.

Once Haley heard her front door shut, her shoulders slumped and her tears fell silently.

Moving her head to the side, she looked out of the window. The sun wasn't shining anymore, the wind was blowing hard, and the rain was pelting off of the outside window. A storm was forming. When had the day turned so bleak without her noticing? Was it around the same time her own perfect day had shattered?

**End of Chapter One.**

**Thanks for reading all the way to the end! If you'd like, that little button to your left, that says rewiew, you could press that and leave me one. :D**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N** - Thanks to everyone who reviewed, I'm glad you liked the start of the story. I don't know what was up with the missing question marks and comma's inside the speech marks, that wasn't intentional. Hopefully it's all sorted out now...if not damn it! So once again I urge you to review, it feeds my ego don't ya know? I'm just kidding...well actually I'm not, but any reviews are welcomed and truely appreciated.

**Disclaimer - **Once again, I sadly do not own Bethany Joy Lenz, will I ever catch a break? Yeah, I also don't own the rest of the OTH gang, Mark Schwahn does, that lucky guy!

**Warning - **Just like the first warning in Chapter one, Femslash, yadda, yadda, don't like it, don't read it, yadda, yadda.

**xxxx**

**Chapter Two: Why Is Hurting So Painful?**

Brooke Davis, silently sat on her bed, musing over why her life had suddenly turned upside down. Her ex-boyfriend and her _ex_-best friend were now _dating_. Did their '_Ho's over Bro's_' motto mean anything to Peyton? Obviously not. Maybe it was some kind of karma, after all the things she had done in the past. That didn't mean she was some cold, heartless bitch. Unlike popular belief she did have feelings, and right now all she felt was the hurt, Lucas and Peyton's actions had caused. Usually, she wouldn't have let any of this affect her, she'd brood over her loss for all of a day and then bounce back to the energetic Brooke Davis everybody knew. But this was different; Peyton had been her best friend and Lucas...Lucas had been close to being her first love.

Letting out an aggravated sigh of frustration, she got up off of her bed and paced the length of her bedroom a few times, until she came to a stop in front of her vanity mirror. Photographs covered the outline of it. Photos of her and Peyton at all ages, and recent ones of herself and Lucas all in different situations. Glaring at them, at the naiveness of her past self, Brooke reached forward and pulled them off of the mirror, crunching them up in her hand and then flinging them onto the floor of her bedroom. She finally stopped when there were no more to pull off and the mirror was nothing but a blank canvass like it had once been. Now there was nothing obstructing her view, showing herself the person she had been reduced to; a pitiful form of her former self, and Brooke didn't like who was staring back at her.

Turning around, she walked over and picked up and put on her grey hoodie that she had flung haphazardly over her chair and walk out of her room leaving the crumpled photos in her wake.

Minutes, if not seconds later, the roar of her engine started, as she reversed her car out of the driveway and headed down the road that lay ahead of her. Trying to find some peace, some way to forget. To forget the betrayal that had happened and the pain she felt in the core of her heart because of it.

**xxxx**

After almost an hour of driving, Brooke pulled her car to a stop and sat staring at the view in front of her. It was almost peaceful to her, a kind of serene calm even. The docks did that to her. She guessed it was just that kind of place.

Opening her car door, she got out and just started to walk. She didn't know where or to what, she just walked aimlessly along the river front. By the time Brooke stopped, the night had already overtaken the day and darkness surrounded her, almost engulfed her into it. This was her favourite time of day, she could mask her hurt by the night, blending in just like a normal person, where she didn't have people looking at her, feeling sorry for her or pitying her. She hated that. Looking out into the river she took in how the shine from the moon danced of the surface of the water, it looked almost inviting. A picture perfect moment even, like a painting she had seen once, that had captured this exact moment.

Sighing, she continued her walk, onwards with no destination in mind, she figured once she found what she was looking for, she'd know.

So when she came across none other than Haley James, sitting by herself, on a bench, staring off into the vast darkness of night, she knew she'd at least found someone to distract her for a while. Walking up to her slowly, Brooke took a seat next to Haley. Smiling to herself, she noted with mild amusement that Haley hadn't even registered her presence, like she had her own problems to contend with, just like Brooke herself.

"Hey Tutor Girl." Brooke greeted, breaking the silence that surrounded them both.

Haley, so deep in her own thoughts, jumped at the unexpected voice.

"Brooke." she stated in surprise, at seeing her there.

"Sorry if I interrupted anything there." Brooke told her.

"No that's ok, I was just thinking about...stuff." Haley replied.

"Nathan?" Brooke wondered.

"What? Where?" Haley hastily asked, suddenly tense.

"No, I meant is that who you were thinking about. I didn't mean he was here." Brooke explained, and then grew confused as she watched Haley relax. "Have you guys had a fight?" she wondered.

"No," Haley answered quickly. A little to quickly for Brooke's liking. "No, we haven't, and no I wasn't thinking about him." she lied.

"I can leave you alone if you like?" Brooke offered.

"No, I could use the company, that is if you don't mind staying?"

"I don't mind at all, I could use the company too."

"How are you holding up? It can't be easy seeing them together huh?" Haley asked her.

"Think of your worst nightmare and imagin it coming true, then you'll know how I feel." Brooke explained.

"I already _do_ know how that feels." Haley whispered.

"What was that?"

"Nothing important. God would you look at that. Isn't it a picture?" Haley wondered referring to the view in front of them.

"Yeah, a picture." Brooke agreed. "I always come down here when I need to think or get away from something."

"I know that feeling, but it's relaxing, gets you away from your problems, like you can shut a door and they're gone, even if it's only for a second, a minutes or an hour. I'd take any time, away from them." Haley mused.

"_You_ have problems?" Was Brooke's inquisitive question.

"Doesn't everyone? I didn't mean I had one right at this moment." Haley back tracked, with wide eyes. Hoping Brooke wouldn't push further.

Studying Haley for a minute, Brooke could tell that there was something she was hiding, but from the way she was acting she didn't want anybody to know. She was good at reading people, so she'd let it slip...for now. "You're right, everyone does. Even if they don't want to let anyone know what's happening, there _is_ people around that's willing to listen, no matter what." she hinted, making sure if Haley needed anyone to talk to she would listen.

"Well if I ever have a problem, I'll be sure to remember that." she told Brooke with a small smile on her lips.

"Aren't you cold?"

"A little." Haley replied, watching as Brooke took off her hoodie.

"Here." she said handing it to Haley.

"Are you sure?" Haley wondered, when Brooke nodded, she gladly took it and put it on, and was instantly surrounded in Brooke's scent. Coating her skin, until it was all she could smell and taste when she breathed in, invading her senses. Not that it was unwelcome, because it was, welcomed that is. It was almost soothing in a strange way. It overpowered Nathan's scent from earlier which she was glad of, she didn't want to remember him. Not tonight, not tomorrow, not ever. "Thank you."

"Can't have you freezing can we? Colds are not the best look for anyone." Brooke informed her, with a small laugh. Something she hadn't done in a while, not since the whole web cam incident. She wonder, why being in Haley James company comforted her, made her feel that slight bit better. "Need a ride home?"

"I could do with one, thanks." Haley agreed, with a smile.

"Come on then." Brooke said, standing up, with Haley following behind as they walked to her car.

As they headed off into the night, each with there own thoughts and problems, they both knew they had at least someone to turn to if they needed to. That they weren't as alone as they had been earlier.

**End of Chapter Two.**

**Here end's the lesson...well the reading. Once again, the little box that says 'Submit Review' you totally should click on the 'Go' button next to it, go on, just drag that mouse of yours over to it and leave your words of wisdom, ya could get a personal thanks for doing so, if you just leave your e-mail in it also! But thanks for reading, and have a good day or night, depending one when you read this. :D**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer - **Yip, still haven't received, Bethany Joy Lenz for a birthday present so odds are that I don't own her. Ain't that just a kick in the head? That Mark Schwahn is a lucky devil, I'm telling you, owning the Tree Hill Gang. Maybe if I look hard enough through my family tree I can find a distant relation that makes me related to him...yeah like _that_ would work!

**Warning - **So yeah femslash, girl/girl, femmeslash, ya get the idea right? If it offends you I've gave you enough warning, in the first two chapter and in this chapter, so don't blame me if you don't like this sort of thing.

**A/N - **I wanna take the time to thank everyone who has reviewed, you really don't know what they mean, they're like the Nacey to what she meant to Sid, the Bonnie to Clyde, the air to my lungs! Or in other words they are very muchly appreciated, and I urge you to leave more.

**xxxx**

**Chapter 3 - Face's You Dream of at Night, Are Often Hidden by a Shadow.**

Sighing as she leaned back against her headboard, Haley tried to figure out why her life was suddenly like it was. Unsettling. No more than a week ago, she was happy. Nathan _made_ her happy then. Now..._now_ he just made her scared. She never knew...never even thought he could be like that, to actually do what he had planned on doing. It chilled her to the bone, to know that if she hadn't stopped him...then nobody would have. She couldn't forgive that, forgive him. He claimed to really care about her. If he did, then why did he do that? Was it her own fault? Did she lead him on? All these thoughts ran through her mind, over and over, over lapping each other. They were almost suffocating, closing in on her.

The rhythmic knocking of her bedroom door, gladly pulled Haley from her haunting thoughts. Looking up, her eyebrows rose considerably.

"Brooke," she stated obviously. "Brooke, who happens to be in my bedroom. Why is that?" Haley finished stumped. Sure Brooke and her had talked and she had got a lift home. But that didn't explain why Brooke was standing in the threshold of her bedroom.

"Can't a friend come visit another friend?" Brooke asked almost perky.

"We're friends?" Haley answered without thinking, immediately regretting it when she saw the hurt flash in Brooke's eyes clouding them for a second.

"Uh..."

"I didn't mean that," Haley apologised quickly. "You ever have those moments, where your foot is permanently in your mouth?"

"Only all the time," Brooke replied.

"I'm sorry, the whole friends thing was uncalled for. Why don't we start over!" Haley told the other girl, standing from the bed. "Brooke Davis! In my room? To what do I owe the pleasure of having your company?"

Laughing at Haley's actions, Brooke allowed herself to be pulled into the bedroom as Haley took a hold of her arm. "It _is_ a school day, as much as I loath to admit it, honestly, why they insist that it starts at such an ungodly hour is beyond me. So I, the generous and goodwill girl that I am, am here to offer you Haley _'Tutor Girl'_ James, a ride. So what do you say?"

"I say; that was a really long winded explanation, for such a simple question."

"There _is_ no pleasing you is there?" Brooke asked her with mock exasperation, which caused Haley to giggle.

"Why yes Brooke, I'd simply love a ride to school."

"Why Tutor Girl, I'd say such a _long winded_ answer like that was uncalled for, a simple '_Yes Mistress._' would have been suffice." Brooke joked, using Haley's earlier words.

Rolling her eyes at Brooke's comment, Haley picked up her textbooks up off of her desk, then turned to face Brooke. Looking at the girl in front of her she couldn't help but smile, with Brooke she felt relaxed, almost safe even. Maybe Brooke had that affect on everyone, Haley didn't know, heck she didn't care either, she just knew what she felt. "Shall we go?"

"Of course Miss James, lead the way," Was Brooke's almost charming reply. Then noticing something, she asked, "Hey, is that my sweatshirt?"

"Uh yeah, I guess I just felt comfortable in it. You can have it back..."

"No! You look cute in it, keep it, I have like oh _fifty_ or so," Brooke told her with her own smile, interrupting her.

"Are you sure?"

"Totally." Was Brooke's cheery reply, as she linked her arm through Haley's and pulled them both out of the bedroom as they headed off to teenage hell, otherwise known as High School.

**xxxx**

Pulling into the parking lot of Tree Hill High, both Brooke and Haley tensed for different reasons. Brooke at the thought of seeing Lucas and Peyton, being all lovey dovey around each other, till it was sickening. Haley...simply because of the prospect of actually seeing Nathan for the first time, since that night. "_Maybe if I just avoid them, then it'll be ok," _was the thought running simultaneously through both there heads.

Getting out of the car, they headed for the main building, other students rushed past them, hurrying to class before the final bell rang. But Haley and Brooke were in no rush, no rush at all, they wanted to drag this out for as long as possible. Delay the inevitable as they say, because after homeroom, English loomed.

English. The one class, the only class, all five of them had together. The tension would be thick, rightfully so between Brooke, Lucas and Peyton. But how could Haley explain the tension between herself and Nathan, without telling everyone what had happen? Luke would be blinded with rage, no one hurt his family, and Nathan wouldn't stand a chance. A part of her just wanted to let it slip in conversation with him, so Nathan would know half the pain that she was in due to his actions. Keeping quiet would be for the best, so she did, she kept it all to herself.

Homeroom was a blur, teachers calling names, a full attendance, then the bell signalling next period. So there they were, sitting next to each other. Haley on the outside of five rows ofdesks and Brooke right next to her. Looking at the clock on the wall, the seconds ticked on by like they were hours themselves, the students piling through the classroom door looked as if they were all in slow motion, and then there they were. Together. Peyton, Lucas and Nathan. If looks could kill, Lucas and Peyton would be ash blowing in the wind right now, due to the death glare Brooke threw there way, their smiles dropped as they passed by, but there hands were still clasped, and to Brooke that hurt more than seeing them kissing. Nathan wasn't fairing any better, as he had tried to walk up to Haley the look on her face had told him, if he came any closer he would be in some sort of pain. So he stayed away.

The teacher walking into the class quietened them down to a hush, and the lesson stated.

Halfway through the lesson, Haley felt a tapping on her shoulder, turning around her eyes narrowed as she looked at Nathan. Ignoring him she turned back round and continued with her work.

"Haley!" Nathan whispered almost silently trying not to get the teachers attention, but succeeding in getting Brooke's.

Turning around again Haley drew daggers at Nathan. "What?" she whispered harshly.

"I wanna tell you..." he started before he was interrupted.

"Listen Nathan, we're in class right now, I don't want to talk to you right now, I don't even want to look at you, so just drop it!" Haley demanded gravely

"But Hales, we _really _need to talk, I'm sorry ok? Sorry!" Nathan pleaded.

"Listen Nate, if she doesn't _want _to talk to you, then she's not going to! No matter _what _you say, so why don't you take some advice and leave her the hell alone!" Brooke warned him.

"Miss Davis, is there a problem?" Mr Robson, the English teacher asked.

"No Mr Robson, Sir, there's no problem what so ever." Brooke told him sweetly.

"Make sure it stays that way then. Ok children, eyes to the front, I want everyone listening." And so the lesson continued, and English was learned, until the bell rang.

As it did Haley shot out of her seat as fast as she could and headed for the door. Brooke and Nathan stood at the same time, intent on following her, as Nathan hurriedly stuffed his things in his bag, Brooke managed to head after her first, until someone grabbed her arm.

Turning around she came face to face with Peyton and Lucas. "Brooke, I think we need to talk." Lucas started.

"I _so_ don't have time for this." Brooke replied as she yanked her arm free from Peyton's grip, and headed out of the door a few seconds before Nathan, leaving Luke and Peyton in her wake.

Heading down the hallway, she spotted Haley hurrying to the main doors of the exit. Walking a little quicker she managed to get toHaley as she reached the exit.

Linking there arms together, Brooke smiled at her as they continued to walk. "Hey there, my favourite Tutor Girl."

"Brooke, I'm the only tutor girl you know! But do you mind letting go of me, before..."

"Before Nathan, catches up with you." Brooke stated finishing Haley's sentence. "Somehow, even I know you don't wanna talk to him. So what do you say we get outta here huh? My car's right over there."

Haley thought about it, contemplating whether or not it was a good idea. Taking a look behind her she saw Nathan fastly approaching. "Let's go." she answered, as she practically pulled Brooke to her car.

As they got into the car, Haley smiled over at Brooke, in thanks.

"My Knightess in shining Gucci, huh?" Haley remarked, as they pulled out of the parking lot.

"Prada, actually." Brooke retorted.

As they drove away leaving Tree Hill High in there wake, they didn't hear Nathan call out Haley's name and they didn't see the anger on his face at being ignored, nor did they see him punch the car he stood by in frustration, actually leaving a dent in the hood.

**xxxx**

Haley sank back into the passenger's seat finally glad to be out of Nathan's grasp. She was content to listen to the music that flowed out through the car speakers as Brooke drove along the open road.

**I'm Dying, Dying to wake up without you, without you in my head again  
I'm Dying, Dying to forget about you, that you ever lived  
There's a shade come over this heart that's coping with laying down to rest  
I'm Dying to live without you again **

It was ironic really, the first song to come on, would remind her of Nathan. Of what she wanted. Maybe she was over reacting, it wasn't like he had physically hurt her. But emotionally he had damaged her, and just like the song's lyric's she was dying to wake up without him in her head again. Every time she closed her eyes she saw him coming at her, pinning her to her own bed and not hearing her pleas for him to stop...but he _did_ hear them, he just chose to ignore them, _ignore _her. She didn't sleep in her own room anymore, she slept in Taylor's room, her big sister, her protector. She wished Taylor was home, she missed her.

There was no doubt that her heart was guarded now, how could it not be? That's what she got for opening her heart to someone. She gave it willingly and in return it had gotten stomped and stamped on, now there was an ache that wouldn't go away. She should have listened to Lucas, listened when he had told her Nathan was bad news, she knew that now, now that it was to late. Momma always said '_You play with fire, you're gonna get burned.'_ Nathan was the fire, an explosion of sorts, and Haley was the victim, she had been burned, set alight, until she had been reduced to ash.

**I'm Dying, Dying to find a distraction, get you away from me  
I'm Dying, Dying to reach a conclusion, so that the world can see  
It's the same old story of love and glory that broke before it bent  
I'm Dying to live without you again...**

The song was fitting, but songs usually were, no matter how you felt there was _always_ one you could relate to at the time.

"So, what was up with you and Nathan?" Brooke questioned, pulling her out of her musing.

"Would you believe me if I said nothing?" Haley wondered.

"Not one bit. So tell me what happened." Brooke asked, as she slowed the car down, and then pulled it to a stop.

"It was nothing really," Haley lied. "We just had a stupid fight, that's all." she explained.

"It wasn't stupid if you're giving him the cold shoulder Hales, it's something." Brooke reasoned with her.

"We were studying...and then he was kissing me, but I wanted to study and words were said and then I told him to leave." Haley told her, leaving out the whole _'Oh and he tried to force himself on me and would have succeeded if I hadn't stopped him.'_

"Words that can't be taken back?"

"Oh yeah."

"Then you're doing the right thing, you should make him grovel until you're ready to forgive him."

"But that's just it Brooke, I'm not sure I can." Haley told her almost silently.

"You can't?" Brooke questioned, scrunching up her forehead. "Haley, is there something you aren't telling me?"

Looking up into Brooke's eye, Haley so desperately wanted to tell her what had really happened, to share her pain with someone else, to ask if it was her fault, but she couldn't. "Yeah, there is. But I'm not ready to tell anyone, just yet." she explained to Brooke.

"Just answer me this one question, did he hurt you?" Brooke asked with dark eyes, not liking the feeling of anything or anyone hurting Haley, if Nathan had, she wouldn't be accountable for her actions.

"Not physically no," Was Brooke's answer. "I'm ok Brooke, I promise."

Taking Haley's hand in her own, Brooke couldn't help but notice how well they fitted each others. She soothingly ran her thumb over it in a calming way, hoping it was at least comforting. "When you feel ready, whether it's tomorrow, next week or next month, I'll be there waiting for you, I promise. When ever you need me, I'll be right here waiting." Brooke vowed.

Smiling at Brooke, Haley moved forward and hugged her. Being in her arms felt better than it had when she was in Nathan's, if perfect was a feeling then perfect was what right now was. Almost reluctantly Haley pulled back. "I hope you will."

"I will, I'll be right there when you need me to be." Brooke told her, with a smile, as she started up the car. "Where to ma'am?" Brooke asked trying to ease the mood.

"Where ever your heart desires, ma lady." Haley answered, as they headed to where ever Brooke wanted to go, still with there hands clasped together.

**End of Chapter 3.**

**Thanks for reading, wanna review, go review. Don't wanna review...please review! But if I can be serious for a moment...Thanks for reading the story...oh and did I mention about the reviewing?**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N - **Well ya'll did ask for an update _asap_, so I tried my best and here I am with an update. But be warned it's a little darker than previous chapters. Once again thank you guys all SO SO much for reviewing, I mean without you guys, I'd be just writing for myself. So really thank you heaps!

**Warning - **Yup, it's a Brooke/Haley pairing, do you know what that means? Femslash, girl on Girl action...well the action hasn't been written yet, but give me time.

**Disclaimer - Sulks **Do I hafta beg and plead to get Bethany? Cause I will, I'm not opposed to a good old bit of begging! So since I'm still begging, that _clearly_ means I don't own her! Which is so unfair! Damn that Mark Schwahn, why does he hafta own the OTH Gang? I'm currently putting my plan of overtaking him into action, who's with me? Whatever member of the cast you want, you can have, but you can all leave Bethany along. She's mine! Man do I ramble huh? Let's get on with the reading!

**xxxx**

**Chapter 4 - An Evil Guy, Explanations and Everything Else**

He was waiting on her, when she entered her room, she never saw it coming. Haley only felt the impact of Nathan's fist rather than saw it coming at her. It felt as if Nathan's hand had been transformed into a concrete brick and the impact had immediately left her breathless. A follow up of his first punch sent Haley reeling to the floor beneath her.

She had only came in for a change of clothes and now here she was, laying on her back staring up at an enraged Nathan. There was no mistaking the undeniable anger in his eyes. Haley was sure her own eyes reflected the polar opposite. Fear, terror and utter panic. _'Oh no Brooke, I'll be fine on my own. Really. Go home.' _Yeah good going Hales, she berated herself.

Seeing Nathan start to advance towards her, she pushed herself backwards along the floor, supporting her midsection as every movement caused pain to flare across it. As she backed herself against her bed, there was no where else to try to get away to, to hide from _him_. As Nathan grabbed a hold of the collar of her t-shirt and pulled her to him, the fear in her eyes intensified and her whole body started to shake. She didn't know what he was going to do, couldn't even imagine what he had in mind.

"Where you gonna run to now, Bitch?" Nathan seethed in her face. "Huh, are you gonna do another disappearing act? Yeah, did you think I'd forget about that?" He continued in a rage, causing Haley to whimper and screw her eyes shut. "Couldn't get away fast enough huh? Oh you had better pray I take it easy on you girl, I don't know how long I can keep my anger in check." Nathan threatened.

"You're saying your anger's in check now?" Haley remarked without thinking, instantly regretting it as she saw Nathan's eyes harden.

"Start praying." He told her gravely, given her what resembled a smirk that would be better suited on the Devil himself. "Pray." He whispered one last time before raising his hand and bringing it down across Haley's face.

As his hand connected with her face, near the corner of her eye, Haley let out an audible yelp. She tried to protect herself by lifting her arms up to cover her face. But that only seemed to anger Nathan even more as he violently took hold of them and pushed them to the floor.

"Don't anger me even _more_ Haley. I don't like to be tested!"

"Nathan please!" she begged, choking back a sob.

"Please what? Please **what?**" he yelled into her face.

"Stop!" Haley whimpered. "Just stop."

"You want me to stop? Like I wanted you to stop at school? You didn't stop for me, so why in the hell should I stop for you?" Nathan questioned.

"Cause it hurts," she told him.

"Good," he told her with a sneer. Bringing his fist up again only to bring it back down forcefully on to Haley's midsection. Repeating it over and over again until the skin on his knuckles became raw and his own blood started to seep through, leaving his blood on her, almost like he was marking a possession.

Standing up slowly Nathan walked away from Haley, to clean the mess from his hands. Leaving her in a heap on the floor. Slowly, painfully, Haley moved her body until it was in a foetal position. She hurt all over, every movement caused mind numbing pain. Why did he do this to her? What had she done to him? Was she ever going to stop hurting? Did the pain fade away until it was nothing but a dull ache? Was it over?

Apparently not, as Nathan walked back over to her again and without warning, without the slightest bit of hesitation, brought his foot forward with as much force as he could, until it collided with Haley's lower back, which in turn instantly caused her to scream out in pain.

Nathan growled at her in plain annoyance, with no sense of wrong-ness on his face. It was as if he was an emotionless man, hollow and vacant, with no sense of feeling or love. Not for anyone but himself, especially the girl, his _girlfriend_, the woman he claimed to care about, who he was currently beating on. He repeated his action of before, bringing his foot down until it came in contact with another part of Haley's back which only caused her to cry out in pain once again.

Stopping for a moment, Nathan crouched down by Haley's head and leaned in and whispered menacingly, "You do that _one _more time, I hear you so much as whimper and you won't even be conscious for the next six months. Do you understand?"

Slowly nodding her head '_yes_', Haley felt the world around her spin, the combined punches and kicks to her body had added up and her body so unused to the amount of pain she was feeling was starting to shut itself down, darken around her. Nathan's punches and kicks kept on coming, mercilessly causing her even more pain, it was the last thing she felt as she slipped into unconsciousness.

**xxxx**

The unmistakable feeling of pain coursing through her body, awoke Haley from the bleak, dark unconsciousness she had previously slipped into. Her eyes fluttered open...well one of them did, the other was swollen shut, purple almost black in color. Saying that she hurt all over would be have been a major understatement. From what Haley could figure out; which wasn't much due to the haze that clouded her brain, she was willing to bet that there wasn't one part of her that didn't ache. She didn't have the energy to move, breathing was in itself a task, but what little logic her brain had let through, told her, pleaded with her to get some kind of help. Untangling herself from her tangled limbs she moved to sit up.

Which proved harder than expected. Bracing herself with her arm against the floor, Haley groaned, and a wave of dizziness over took her. Closing her one good eye, the darkness she saw this time was welcoming, and the spinning subsided and slowly came to a halt. Opening her eye again, she was thankful to see only one image and that it was at a standstill. Bracing herself again, Haley painfully pulled herself up into a standing position, all the while her face contorted into a picture of agony, and a fresh wave of dizziness came over her. Stumbling over to her bed, she let herself fall onto it, ignoring the shots of pain shooting through body, just being thankful that she had somewhere soft that supported her.

Taking in a few ragged breaths of air, Haley lay there until the pain eased off and it didn't hurt as much when she breathed in. Rolling her head to the side, agonisingly slowly, she saw the phone for her bedroom. It was just sitting there innocently, like inanimate objects tend to do. Waiting to be picked up and used. If only it was that easy, lifting her arm hurt like a bitch, it felt like dead weight, and moving it was like moving a cannon ball a meter from it's original place. Picking up the phone, Haley moved her arm back beside her and it fell onto the bed like all of the gravity surrounding it had suddenly disappeared. It was limp and the simply action of moving her thumb across the numbers was a strenuous task, that never before had required this much energy.

Pausing in mid dial, Haley wondered if calling Karen would be the best idea, she would only tell Lucas she was in trouble and he would rush to her rescue, like brothers were supposed to. She loved him to death, but knew him all to well, Luke would take one look at her, demand who in the hell had done it to her, not giving in till she uttered Nathan's name. Then Nathan would end up in the same pain she was in. As much as she wanted that, she would rather wait until she was at least lucid enough to enjoy it. Calling Karen was out of the question. Her parents were MIA, the last time she had heard from them was a postcard from Mexico, _'Wishing you were here.'_ not even so much as a _'Love from mom and dad.'_ Racking her brain for minutes, Haley finally decided on one person. Brooke. She remembered Brooke's words in the car. _'I'll be right there, when you need me to be.' _Haley still hoped that, that was true. Her thumb slowly pressed the number she had been given day's earlier. As she listened to the dial tone, she started to drift off, only to be pulled back when she heard Brooke's bubbly voice come down the line.

"Brooke Davis, fashion icon of the world, who am I talking to?"

"Brooke?" Haley slurred helplessly, only to go into a coughing fit seconds later. She hadn't anticipated talking would affect her as much as it did.

"Haley?" Brooke asked, her voice suddenly void of the bubbly-ness of before and replaced with a concerned tone.

"Brooke, I...I need your help," Haley stuttered into the phone, wincing as her burst lip cracked, as she spoke that one sentence.

"What's wrong? Where are you? Are you ok?" Brooke questioned rapidly in a panicked voice.

"Hurt. Home." Talking was starting to make her breathless and the black dots she was seeing in front of her eyes, probably weren't the best thing to be seeing. "Hurry." Haley whispered as her hand went weak and the phone she held in her hand, slipped from her grasp, clattering to the floor with a resounding bang.

**xxxx**

Brooke was out her front door and in her car before she had the chance to fully put on her hoodie and zip it up, considering the downpour that was currently pelting off of the sidewalk, it showed her state of mind. Starting up the car, she heard the rev of the engine and the squeal of the tires on the wet road, as she reversed out of her driveway heading blindly down the street with her windshield wipers working furiously. Almost in sync with her own worried state. Hearing the blare of other motorists horns, Brooke knew she wasn't thinking straight and was driving like a maniac on speed. She needed to get herself together. Seeing Haley like she was right now, wouldn't be good. _Haley. _Haley needed her.

Before the phone call, she had been lazily laying about on her bed, fighting against the battle of staying awake. There was something calming about the rain hitting off of her window thatsoothed her. But she hadn't been tired, she had been bored. There had been nothing to do after she had dropped Haley off. What could have possibly happened between when she had left Haley on her doorstep and now? When the phone had rang, Brooke had been glad for the simple distraction, but when she had heard Haley's voice, the chill that had gone through her was so big it went right to her core. She had never heard _anyone_ sound that scared.

Pulling to a halt at a red light, she let out a frustrated sigh, she didn't have time to sit around and watch the damn rain soak everything within sight, there was no calming her at this moment in time. Haley needed her. All she wanted to do was put her foot down and run that red light. It was the same old thing, when you needed to be somewhere you could never get there fast enough, but if you had no where to go the road was almost deserted and yours to travel and roam free. Watching as the traffic light turned from red to amber and then _finally_ to green, Brooke was already halfway down the street, leaving the traffic light and the cars behind her in her wake.

Five minutes. That was how long it would be till she reached Haley's home. That was still 300 second that separated her from helping Haley. If she took a guess she would say she was half a mile away, that was to far. Speeding up she took a left, then a right and another, then going forward for a minute or two, up ahead was the turning into Haley's street, which she dutifully turned into, finally stopping in front of her house.

Turning off the engine, Brooke all but jumped out of her car, slamming the car door shut behind her, hurrying as fast as she could to Haley's front door. Not even bothering to knock, she pushed the door open and shouted Haley's name. Getting no answer Brooke started to panic again. She looked around her, but she didn't see anything out of place. Spotting the stairs, she moved towards them and headed up them fast.

"Haley? Where are you?" She shouted through the otherwise silent house. _Please be ok, you have to be Tutor Girl, I mean think of all the untutored fools out there that need your help, your guidance. Think how much there grades are gonna go down if you're not there to tutor them. I bet outta every tutor there you Tutor Girl, are the best tutor ever. Haley don't you dare leave me, I've just found you._ Brooke's last thought of her inner babble, caused her brows to scrunch up in confusion. _I've just found you? What's that supposed to mean?_ Pushing open the last door at the ending of the landing, every thought she was thinking, anything she thought about saying, left her. Her brain was a complete blank, as blank as a painters easel at the beginning of a painting. She had prepared herself for the worst, but obviously her worst was a different worse than anything she had ever seen. The image of Haley, laying on her bed, limp, beaten and bruised, turned her stomach. She could feel the bile rise to the back of her throat, she could taste the acidicness of it, she was in shock. Plain, utter, simple, shock. Which was causing her to stand there frozen, not helping her friend.

_Get it together Brooke, snap out of it! NOW! _Shaking her head, she cleared her thoughts and her brain kicked in. Hurrying over to Haley's side, Brooke fell to her knees and lifted her hands, and then stalled. She didn't know where to put her hands, their were bruises of all different shapes and sizes all over Haley's body and face. She didn't want to cause her anymore pain. But ever so slowly she touched Haley's shoulders and started to gently shake them.

"Haley, wake up," Brooke demanded desperately, her voice high, and the last of her plea catching in the back of her throat. "Please wake up Tutor Girl, God you need to wake up! I..I don't, don't know wh..what to do!" she stuttered helplessly.

Breathing out heavily, she ran a hand through her hair. She'd never felt so at loss before, Haley needed her help and there she was, staring at her, not having a clue what to do. Without thinking Brooke moved her hand up to Haley's face and softly brushed away some of her hair that had fallen over her face, covering it. Moving the hair away just made the reality of Haley's situation bigger. If anything the strands of hair had hidden Haley's eye from view, and Brooke had barely been able to contain her gasp. Tenderly, so as not to hurt Haley, Brooke ran her thumb soothingly up and down the corner of her face. "Come on sweetie, wake up for me. Then we can get you help. Open your eyes, I need to see your eyes. I need you to tell me who did this to you, so I can go and kick the living shit out of them." Brooke told her, in an angry tone towards the end, whoever did this to her, they'd be lucky to see the next dawn.

With her other hand, Brooke took hold of Haley's and squeezed it tightly, willing her to squeeze it right back. Bringing it up to her mouth she kissed Haley's fingers. "Come on Haley, open your eyes for me. Just open those big brown eyes from me, you can do it Haley. You can do it." Brooke whispered, closing her eyes, almost like she was praying.

"Did you actually just call me Haley?" Was the unexpected question moments later.

"You're awake!" Brooke exclaimed relieved, as her head shot up to look at Haley. "My God Haley, I've never been so relieved to see someone open there eyes! I couldn't do anything, I tried to wake you but you wouldn't wake up and I was so scared! I mean I didn't even know what was going on and I came here and I shouted for you, but you didn't answer. Then I found you and you're all bruised and cut, and I don't know who did it, and oh God are you ok? I should have asked you that first and I didn't, I'm so insensitive! Where does it hurt? I need to get you to the hospital." Brooke babbled on with no sign of stopping.

Was it wrong to think Brooke's actions were amusing, and kind of cute, if she was in so much pain? If so Haley was the person in the wrong. It was almost a relief to feel something other that fear. If only the pain she felt all over her body, was that easy to forget. "Brooke, clam down." Haley told her as she squeezed Brooke's hand, trying to get her attention, but the simple action only cause more pain, which clearly showed on her face.

"I need to get you to the hospital," Brooke repeated, noticing the pain flash across her face.

"No, I can't, not right now."

"Haley please, we have to get you help. Anything could be wrong with you."

"Later, it just hurts," Haley wheezed. "It hurts to move. I just need to rest."

"Haley..."

"Please Brooke, please?"

"Later. Later I'm taking you to the hospital. Later." Brooke vowed. "Tell me what happened to you."

"Would you believe me if I said I tripped and fell down the stairs?" Haley asked her humourlessly.

"Not even if I was the most nieve person in the world. Tell me the truth Haley. Who did this to you?"

Looking everywhere but Brooke herself, Haley tried to find an out, so she didn't need to answer Brooke's question. If she kept quiet, then everything would go away, wouldn't it? She could forget this had ever happened to her. Forget that Nathan Scott even existed. But as her eyes settled on Brooke, catching her eyes with her own, Haley saw the worry in them. That worry was for her. Brooke cared about her, she may not be able to escape the reality of the situation she found herself in, no matter how much she wanted to, Haley knew she had to tell her the truth.

"Nathan."

And with that single word, it was almost as if everything stopped. The silence was deafening. Haley felt Brooke's grasp on her hand weaken and her hand slipped, till it fell beside her on top of the bed. She also noted that Brooke's eyes had glazed over, and it looked as if she was staring at something in front of her that was off in the distance and the rest of the world couldn't see what it was. Her face was void of emotion.

"Nathan? Nathan Scott, he did this to you?" Brooke asked in an eerily calm voice. Which was anything from what she was feeling on her inside. Blind rage, that would have been more accurate. The facade she was putting on was for Haley's sake only, it wouldn't do her any good, to get Haley worked up. No, she'd wait, let the anger, the rage she felt towards that asshole build, and when she saw him, seeked him out...well they did say _'hell hath no fury like a women scored'_ and she was surely going to make sure Nathan felt twice the amount of pain he had inflicted on Haley.

"He did." Haley answered her eyes suddenly full with unshed tears. "He's here with me all the time, I can't get him out of my head."

"It's gonna be ok, I swear! I won't let him touch you ever _again!"_ Brooke swore to her, leaning up she rested her forehead against Haley's. "I'll take care of you, I'll do anything for you. All you have to do is ask." Brooke didn't know if it was the way her feelings had been seriously mixed up by seeing Haley or what, but as she felt herself leaning into Haley, getting closer and closer to her lips. Brooke realised she had no control over her action and more to the point she couldn't give a damn about what she was about to do, or what the ramifications of afterwards would be. All she knew was that she wanted this.

Their lips were millimetres apart and they were getting closer every second. It was a defining moment.

"What the _hell _happened to my sister?"

And the moment was shattered.

Brooke so surprised at the interruption, jerked her head back and looked at the person in the door.

"Taylor." Haley stated, shocked at seeing her older sister standing in the threshold of her bedroom door.

Taylor was the last person she had expected to see, but no matter what, she would never get tired of seeing her big sister, even if she did happen to interrupt _something_.

**End of Chapter 4**

**Once again, thanks for reading all the way to the end. All I'll just direct your attention to that review button, how about you go to that and leave me a brand spanking new review. They are muchly loved. So do it!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer -** Don't own anything, why is that? Cause Mark Schwahn does. Oh I'm not bitter, not one tiny little bit...maybe a huge big gigantic bit! But, you gotta love the guy he has gave us all the OTH Gang, and Bethany, who is just the best!

**A/N - **Thank's a whole heap to the people that have reviewed, (I'll pay you the money I promised you for them later) they were muchly loved, each and every one of them. Now if you dude's and dudette's keep this up, I'll love you all forever and ever! Now on with the chapter!

**Chapter 5 - Well, Thinks Just Got a Little More Interesting.**

_Their lips were millimetres apart and they were getting closer every second. It was a defining moment._

_"What the hell happened to my sister?"_

_And the moment was shattered. _

_Brooke so surprised at the interruption, jerked her head back and looked at the person in the door._

_"Taylor." Haley stated, shocked at seeing her older sister standing in the threshold of her bedroom door._

_Taylor was the last person she had expected to see, but no matter what, she would never get tired of seeing her big sister, even if she did happen to interrupt something. _

**xxxx**

Stepping fully into Haley's room, Taylor took in her sisters appearance and her eyes widened dramatically. "Haley-Bub? Are you ok?" she whispered in shock.

"Tay!" Haley exclaimed happily and tried to smile, but it only seemed to aggravate her lip some more, causing her to winch.

"Is everything ok?" Brooke asked, noticing Haley's actions.

Moving her head to the side Haley remembered that Brooke was still there, it wasn't that hard to forget. '_God, if I just moved forward a little bit...'_ Shaking the thoughts out of her head, Haley tried her best to smile at Brooke.

"Uh huh, fine."

"Who are you? Did you do this to my sister?" Taylor accused Brooke, as her thoughts went into overdrive. _'My little sis is all cuts and bruises! Who in the hell did this, I'll kill them, no one messes with my family and gets away with it!' _"Well, did you?"

"God, no! I would never hurt Haley! Never!" Brooke told Taylor venomly.

"Then who in the hell did?" she erupted.

"Taylor, calm down, I'm ok." Haley told her sister, the last thing she wanted was for Brooke to be blamed for something Nathan had done.

"Look at you! How could you possibly be ok? Have you looked in a mirror?" Taylor asked her fervently.

"Oh yeah, first thing I did was get up off my ass and check out how I looked. God knows I have to look my best, even when I'm hurt Tay." Haley replied sarcastically, and as much as Brooke tried to, she couldn't stop the small laugh that passed her lips at Haley's reply.

"This isn't funny! Look at her!" Taylor spurted out almost in a rage of her own.

"Brooke, have you met my overprotective, vigilant, bodyguard of a sister Taylor? If not there she is!" Haley remarked.

Looking over at Taylor, Brooke gave a small nod and a little wave.

Taylor acknowledged Brooke with a nod of her own, but her attention was still pretty much on Haley. _'Even when she's in pain, she'll still try not to make it about herself. Who in there right mind would want to hurt her? I'll bash there pretty little skull in, until it's ugly and deformed!' _Walking closer to the bed, Taylor came to a stop when she was standing next to Haley, taking a hold of her hand, she sat down next to her sister. "Seriously sweetie, are you ok?"

"I've been better Tay, I just hurt more that I should." Haley told her quietly.

"Did you even think of taking her to the hospital?" Taylor asked directing her question at Brooke, who was sitting on the other side of Haley's bed.

"Uh..." Brooke faltered, being a little intimidated by Taylor's brashness. _'It's not like I was the asshole who did this to her, who physically beat her till she was unconscious, how did I suddenly become the bad guy?' _She thought tot herself.

"Taylor, don't be mean," Haley admonished. "This isn't Brooke's fault. If anything she's the one that's helped me. She didn't need to, but she did. She wanted me to go to hospital, but I told her no, so would you _please_ lay off her!" Haley finished in a warning tone, and a little breathless. _'Probably talking that much isn't the best thing to do Haley.'_ She told to herself.

"I'm sorry Brooke, but you can understand why I'm a little upset. I mean coming home to find my baby sister like she is. It isn't exactly the best homecoming is it?" Taylor reasoned.

"I completely understand. You know I should leave you guys alone. I'm intruding, I should go." Brooke told them both.

"No! Brooke, don't go! Please, stay?" Haley said to her grabbing a hold of her hand.

"Hales, I don't..."

"For me?" Haley asked her as she interrupted.

"Fine," Brooke relented. What was it about this girl that made it impossible to say no to her? _'You don't want to make her sad or unhappy.'_ An inner voice piped up, and Brooke could do nothing but agree.

"So who did this to you?" Taylor asked her sister.

"Why do you automatically expect, that someone has done this to me? I mean you know how accident prone I am, I could have simply fallen downstairs." Haley told her hypothetically.

"Haley, I'm a lot of things, but stupid isn't one of them. I know you don't get that hurt by falling down some stairs. Especially not the face, look at your eye! I want to know. Hay, tell me please?"

"It was her boyfriend, turns out he's more of a dickhead than anyone thought. Didn't take to kindly to Haley bailing on him at school and got violent. He's idiotic like that." Brooke told Taylor, berating Nathan in the process. So she didn't have to hear Haley tell it, partly because Haley needed to save what energy she had, she knew that. But mostly because if she had heard Haley say it...she was liable to charge out of Haley's home, find Nathan and hurt him. She could wait for that, wait until Haley could talk without it being such an effort, till she knew that Haley was going to be ok.

"I hope you dumped his sorry ass!" Taylor told her little sister, hating the fact that an idiot hurt her Haley-Bub.

"Well, it's highly unlikely that I'm gonna welcome him into my arms again and tell him to do it again, am I Tay?" Haley told her sister, only to end up coughing as the pain from her numerous injuries creeped up on her again.

"Doesn't she have a killer sense of humour or what?" Taylor asked Brooke deadpan.

Brooke nodded her head distracted, as she moved closer to Haley. "I think we should get you to the hospital, so someone can look you over, and I'm not taking no for an answer this time Haley." Brooke told her with a half smile.

"Do I really have to?"

"Yes," Both Taylor and Brooke chorused at the same time.

"Fine," Haley said giving in, much like Brooke had moments before.

Standing up off of the bed, Brooke reached into her jean's pocket and pulled out her car key's.

"Hey Tutor Sis, go start the car up and I'll help Haley down to it." Brooke instructed, taking charge and flinging the keys to Taylor.

"But..." Taylor started to protest, then seeing the look that Brooke was giving her decided against it. "Ok," she mumbled and headed out, leaving Haley and Brooke alone in the room.

"You know if I was a guy, I could just scoop you up into my arms and carry you all the way to my car, but alas I lack the upper body strength for such a classy gesture. So you're gonna have to work with me ok?" Brooke told her. "Can you sit up, or is it sore?"

"It hurts my ribs, like a pain is shooting through them, and I get kinda dizzy." Haley explained. "But I think I can manage it." Leaning forward, under Brooke's watchful eye, Haley slowly sat up into a sitting position, releasing out a breath as one of her arms held her up.

"Are you ok, it hurts doesn't it, you should lay back down and rest..." Brooke began.

"No Brooke, I'm ok. It only hurts when I breath." Haley told her with a humourless laugh. "I just need a little help standing up, can you help me?"

"Do you even have to ask?" Brooke told her with a smile, moving to stand in front of Haley. "Come on." She told her leaning in, putting her arms around Haley in almost a cuddle like fashion. Taking in a breath, Brooke pulled Haley into a standing position, but she couldn't escape the aroma that surrounded Haley like a scent to a flower. If you asked her to describe it she couldn't, it was just simply Haley, and she couldn't get enough of it.

Pulling back slightly she looked into Haley's eyes and saw that she was in some sort of pain. "Are you ok?" Brooke whispered.

"I can honestly say I've felt better," Haley replied, staring into Brooke's eyes. _Does she have a magnetic pull or something, I swear I can never look away._

"Uh, we...we should head down to...to the car," Brooke stuttered. _Why do I act like an idiot when I'm around her?_

"Yeah, to the car." Haley agreed in a whisper, her eye dropping to Brooke's lips, noticing her tongue snake out and wet her lips. _Was I meant to find that sexy? _Looking back up her eyes caught Brooke's again, and she couldn't stop herself from moving in, she didn't _want t_o stopherself from leaning closer. _I'm going kiss her! Am I meant to be this anxious? _

_Holy carp! She's leaning in, what do I do? Breath Brooke, you've done this plenty of times before! With a girl? Well yeah, that's new. It's Tutor Girl though, I'm going kiss Haley. Haley. Wow._

This was it, _this time was it_, no interruptions, intrusions. Just a kiss. Lips on lips. A kiss.

If only it were that simple, big sisters, more specifically Haley's big sister, Taylor had an impeccable timing for ruining such moments just like this. The honking of the horn was the interruption, Haley and Brooke didn't want. As the sound was heard, they both pulled back fast, like they had been caught with there hand in the cookie jar.

"Impatient isn't she?" Brooke stated with a sigh. _Damn it!_

"At the most unwanted times too." Haley told her. _You're dead Taylor. Dead._

And those were the thoughts they were thinking as they headed downstairs, with Brooke holding onto Haley tight supporting her till they safely got to the car, and on the way to the hospital, Brooke still never let her hold on Haley go until the doctor came.

**xxxx**

Sitting in a waiting room, was the single most boring, fearful thing on plant, or so Brooke thought. The walls were a metallic white, and the smell was rank at best. She wondered why they couldn't paint the hospital wall, some vibrant color, that appealed to everyone, even soothed them if they were nervous, and had no one is hospital heard of a thing called an air freshener? The smell alone, would be enough to put someone into a coma.

When they had arrived at the hospital, Haley had been taken to a private room, to be looked over by a doctor. As Brooke, watched Haley being taken down the corridor of the hospital, she couldn't help but think one thought that turned into an inner battle of her own thoughts.

_'I hope she's going to be ok," _Was Brooke's first thought.

**_'Tutor Girl's gonna be fine, she's tough.' _**Was the inner reply.

_'Yeah, she's a tough nut,' _Brooke agreed with herself.

**_'Tough cookie, that's the saying.' _**The inner voice corrected.

_'O...k, this is getting kinda weird.' _Brooke told herself.

**_'Having conversations with yourself usual are, it sure isn't the first sign of sanity that's for sure.' _**The inner voice pointed out.

_'I'm stopping this now, pushing it way out of my mind.' _Brooke vowed.

_**'Won't work. Just like pretending that almost kissing Haley didn't happen either, cause it did.'**_

_'Heat of the moment.'_

**_'Right,'_** Brooke's inner voice dawdled out. **_'Heat of the moment! That's it! It's not like it happened more than once...oh, oh yes it did! Twice is what you're looking for sweetie, two times, both your lips almost touched, so don't heat of the moment me...you...us!' Her inner voice mocked._**

_**'Did I hit a nerve there?'**_

_'Doesn't mean anything,' _Brooke mumbled to herself.

**_'Oh wake up and smile the damn coffee! That's it take a big whiff, I'm you sweets, obviously a more honest you, but you all the same.' _**The voice argued.

_'What are you trying to say?'_

**_'Come on Brooke, it doesn't take a rocket science to work it out, open your eyes. You already know or else I wouldn't be saying this right now.' _**Her inner voice reasoned.

_'I like Haley...as a friend.'_

_**'I'm sure you do, but it's more than that, that's not all you like.'**_

_'Ok, that's it, you're shutting up now!"_

_**'Why cause I'm telling the truth?'**_

_'No, because you're annoying the hell out of me!'_

_**'So you annoy the hell out of yourself then, seeing as I'm you and you're me?'**_

_'Are we always this confusing?' _Brooke wondered.

_**'Stop avoiding what you're trying to tell yourself. Listen, would you! God, you're so stubborn.'**_

'We're both that!'

**'Well of course we are, we're the same damn person!'**

_'Testy, testy."_

**_'Ok Brooke, be in denial, but we know Lucas wasn't 'The One', you're heart isn't even broken over the fact he's with another girl, you're hurt because you miss you best friend, she was always better to talk to than yourself. But did you ever even think Brooke, did you ever give into the thought, that Haley might feel the same?' _**Her inner voice, explained.

_'Yeah, but what if she doesn't?' _Brooke wondered hesitantly.

_**'You won't know until you take a chance."**_

Her last thought made her think, _'What if she never took a chance?'_ Minutes later still in thought, Brooke had the distinct feeling of being watched, lifting her head up, she caught sight of Taylor looking at her.

"You looked deep in thought, anything interesting?" Taylor asked her.

"Oh, plenty interesting, but mostly confusing, but that's just me," Brooke told her. "Is there a drinks machine around here? I'm thirsty." She then asked.

"I think there's one on the second floor, there's usually one there," Taylor replied, though not a 100 sure.

"That's your logic?" Brooke questioned doubtfully.

"Hey I never said I was logical," Taylor replied with a smirk.

Sighing Brooke got up off of the chair she was sitting on. "Want anything?"

"Surprise me."

"You asked for it," Brooke told her as she headed off.

_'Ok, now I'm bored,' _was Taylor's first thought after Brooke had left, minutes ago. _'Not that I wasn't in the first place, I'm just more bored now than I was.' _Heaving out a sigh, Taylor shifted in her seat. _'Damn, plastic piece of crap! Would it kill anyone to spend a little money for some decent sets of seats?'_

Giving up on getting a comfortable position, Taylor looked around the deserted waiting area and shrugging to herself, lay down across a row of chairs, until she was looking up at the hospital ceiling. _'Oh this is so much better,' _she muttered sarcastically to herself. _'We shouldn't even be in this damn place. I swear to any god listening, that if I ever have the displeasure of meeting Haley's assclown of an ex-boyfriend, I'll beat him to death with a shovel!'_

_'Least she has a friend, Brooke seems like a strange, yet reasonably nice person. They sure did look cosy when I walked in on them,'_ she thought to herself with a smirk. _'Probably should have let them carry on. I would have to if I hadn't noticed the state of Haley.'_

_'God Haley,' _Taylor thought sadly. '_My little Haley-bub, my baby sister, hurt. Sitting in some damn sterile, nasty smelling room, getting looked over by some doctor. She never should have been in here in the first place. Haley's a lover not a fighter, she wouldn't hurt a damn fly. So why should she be hurt?'_

_'She'll be ok though,' _Taylor reassured herself. _'She'll be ok, she will, she's Haley, she has to be. If not, look out Tree Hill, hurricane Taylor's about to hit.' _

_'It's a pity murder's against the law, because mister jackass, would be six feet under. Maybe I could plead tempory insanity? Cause no one hurts anyone important to me and gets away with it, especially not my sister. That's just so far over the line, that the line isn't even visble anymore. I'll personally give him the mother load of all beatings and with a song in my heart the time.' _she mused to herself with the slightest hint of a smile. '_Maybe that is a bit over dramatic, I do have a thing for theatricals.'_

_'Maybe it was a one time thing? A one time almost kiss. That was definitely where it was heading. No doubt about it. I guess I don't know little sis, all that well after all.'_

_'Well if you weren't always away, maybe you qould and this wouldn't have happened. She wouldn't be in here if you had stayed. But oh no, not you Taylor James, no you needed your freedom, leaving her all alone. God you knew mom and dad were never home, it's always just her, herself. That was just a great move wasn't it Taylor, leaving her by herself? This is all my own fault, if I had stayed, I could have stopped this.' _Taylor thought, berating herself. _'I'm not going anywhere now. I'm staying put, she's not gonna get hurt again.'_

_'That may well be true Tay, but she's still hurt now, how are you going to handle that? Can you look her in the face, her bruised face at that, and be there for her, knowing that you've let her down, by not being their to protect her? Can you?'_

"I don't know." Taylor whispered out loud.

"You don't know what?"

As soon as the voice reached her, Taylor jerked up. She hadn't even heard Brooke's footsteps, on the floor getting closer. Too deep in her thoughts to really comprehend anything.

"Uh nothing, just thinking aloud I guess," She told Brooke.

"Probably wanna do that inside your head, more privacy," Brooke told her. "Also," she carried on. "Less people are likely to think you're crazy."

"Talking from experience?" Taylor questioned, with a little bit of teasing lacing her voice.

"Here," Brooke replied changing the subject, handing Taylor a cup. "Coffee. Supposedly it's meant to be good if you take a big whiff." She told Taylor, who was currently looking at her like she was the Madhatter himself. "Ignore me."

"Oh I plan too." Taylor told her, taking her coffee from her. "You weren't gone long." She stated.

"Oh, there was one at the end of the hall, didn't even need to go up to the second floor."

"How long do you think we'll have to wait?"

"I have _no_ idea," Brooke responded.

So they waited. Waited till they could see Haley again.

**xxxx**

The room was silent, the only thing Haley could hear was her own breathing and if she listened hard enough, she could hear her heartbeat echo, not that it was much of a heart right now. More so a broken one, shattered into thousands of little, sharp, painful piece. Putting them back together would no doubt take some time. She wasn't letting anyone close, this was to much to go through more than once.

"So why did I let Brooke get so close?" She wondered out loud. Deep in the back of her head she knew the answer, she just had to find it.

_'Was it to forget Nathan? Did I actually want to kiss her? It felt like I did. But did she want it to happen?' _Haley asked herself wordlessly. _'Ha! Like anyone would really want me, I'm just a pity case. Brooke just felt sorry for me. Nathan was right, I am disgusting.'_

Reaching up, she gingerly touched the outline of her swollen eye, running her thumb down it, and down the side of her face until she came to her lip. That wasn't any better than her eye, it had swelt out, and had a deep cut on both her top and bottom lip. Her face was a picture of abuse, amoungset all the cuts, and the bruises just made it all the worse. _'Comes with the territory of getting smack a few time.' _Haley thought moresly.

_'I must have deserved it, why else would he have done it? I was a tease wasn't I? Normal girls don't keep there boyfriends waiting, so I must have been. I was nothing but a tease.' _Haley justified to herself.

_'Maybe I should give him another chance, I mean this is my own fault and nobody else would want me. It wouldn't be so bad would it?' _She questioned herself.

_'Are you kidding, it would be so much worse, taking him back would be suicidal! If he thinks he can get away with doing this, then what's their to stop him from doing it again? What's their to stop him from doing it so many more times, that you've lost count? What's to stop him doing it until, one day he goes to far. There's no forgiving what he's done. Never.' _Whatever logic her clustered mind had, pointed this out to her.

'Y_eah, taking Nathan back, not an option.'_

Taking a deep breath Haley tried to relax, forget. But the pain in her ribs, surged throughout her entire body, reminding her why she was in here. Couldn't she catch a damn break? Yes, she had been beaten and bruised until she had been black and blue and a little bloodied, but did every movement in her damn body have to remind her of it! Was it not bad enough, that every time she closed her eyes, she could picture it, that she could feel every blow hit her body, over and over again. The pain was a reality, but it wasn't like she could forget than it wasn't a reality, her boyfriend, her _ex-boyfriend_, had hit her, everywhere, she didn't know how it had gotten this far, but it had, and she wasn't likely to forget it. The hurt was to much, not just in the physical pain kind of way, but emotionally to. She had been so close to loving Nathan, and if someone you loved could do this to you, then how could she ever trust anyone ever again?

Haley wanted to throw something, get rid of her frustration, but she could hardly move without help, so she doubted she could actually through something, by herself. _'Oh this is just great, I mean I can't do anything for myself! Did I do something in a past life, that was so bad, that my karma got passed onto this life, which is now accountable for this!' _Haley raged at herself, her anger of the situation, over riding her, short lived self loathing. _'Life officially sucks! No, Nathan sucks! The little weasel did this to me, just cause he couldn't control his sexed raging hormones, to much like daddy Dan, after all!' _She fumed.

'_Is this hell my fault! It's his, it's not like I begged him to hit me, he's just a goddamn child with a temper. If he thinks he has any power over me he's wrong. The first time he touched me in anger, our relationship was over. Nathan can rot in hell for all I care.'_ Haley reasoned, finally seeing some sort of light, in this dark situation she had found herself in.

_'Brooke, helped me. Brooke was there for me.'_

In such a short space of time, everything had changed around her, but the one constant thing was Brooke. When she had need to talk to, Brooke was there. When she needed help, who had she called? Brooke. Brooke. Brooke. Brooke. Brooke. It was always Brooke. Brooke who she had been near kissing. Brooke, who she had wanted to kiss. Brooke Davis. Who knew? Haley did now.

The door to her room opened, and in walked her doctor. She saw him winch when he saw her face, but she didn't care. Walking to her hospital bed, he picked up her chart and gave it a once over.

"Miss James, how are you feeling?" He asked her.

"I've been better doc, way better." Haley answered him, as he started examine her.

**xxxx**

"Relatives of a Miss, Haley James?" A voice called out into the almost empty waiting room.

Stirring out of their bored slumber, Brooke and Taylor quickly got to there feet and headed over to where the doctor was waiting.

"I'm her sister, is she ok?" Taylor questioned, him.

"I'm her doctor, Dr. McMahon. Your sister, considering what she's been through, is going to be fine, she's a tough girl." Dr. McMahon told Taylor.

"How is she? What's wrong with her? Can she go home?" Brooke questioned.

Looking at Brooke, Dr. McMahon looked at her questionably.

"It's ok, they're friends or something, I'm not to clear on that part." Taylor told the doctor.

"Miss James, should really stay the night, for observation, but she's adamant about going home tonight, and there's really nothing I can do to stop her. As I said she'll be fine, but right now she is hurting. From the x-rays we took of Miss James's, body it showed us that due to the impact she has suffered, there are two broken and three fractured ribs. They'll need time to heal, as does everything else, but fractures take longer than usual. I know it may not look it now, but those are her only major injuries, she was very lucky in that sense. Once the swelling of her eye and lip go down, the lacerations she received should heal just fine with minimal scaring. We weren't able to stitch up her lip, due to the swelling, and by the time it heals it'll be to late anyway. We did however, stitch up the laceration on her arm, which Miss James, will need to come back in a week and a half to get taken out." Dr. McMahon explained to them.

"I didn't even know her arm was hurt." Brooke muttered.

"Neither did Haley, until we tried to lift up her sleeve, the blood had soaked into it and made it hard to remove, without it hurting. We've written her a prescription for painkillers, they're strong, so she should be given one when she gets home." The doctor told them, handing the prescription to Taylor.

"Can we see her yet?" Brooke asked him.

"Yes you can, the nurses should be done with her now. She's in room, 414."

"Thank you,"

"It's what I do ma'am." He told her with a smile, and then started walking away.

"I'll go get the prescription, you go see Haley." Taylor told Brooke.

"Are you sure?" Brooke asked her anxiously.

"Positive, she'd want to see you, go."

"Thanks!" Brooke told her as she headed off to Haley's room.

**xxxx**

Walking into room 414, Brooke was happy to see Haley sitting up, on the hospital bed. She looked significantly better than when she was first brought in.

"How's my favourite Tutor Girl doing then?" Brooke asked her happily, with a smile.

"Brooke, we've been over this, so I'll say it one more time, I'm the _only_ tutor girl you know," Haley told her with a kind of smile, it was hard when both lips were cut.

"What, that can't make you my favourite?" Brooke joked. "Ready to get out of here?" she asked Haley.

"Like you wouldn't believe!" Haley told her in an exasperate tone. "I was starting to feel like a damn pin cushion."

"They're much more decorative. I did pass a nurse in the hall and told them that the good ol' doc's letting you go. She should be here with a wheelchair soon."

"Can I pull a wheelie?"

"Uh, maybe when I'm a safe distance away, and that won't be anytime soon so nope you can't!"

"Spoil sport!"

"Yeah, I'm just a regular grinch I am."

"I thought you looked a little green, I just thought you were envious of my good looks."

"Hardy Har har! Funny aren't you?"

"Oh you know me Brooke, regular comic genius."

"If I can interrupt, this fascinating bout of wit, I'd say it's time for someone to get going, and gladly I might add by the look of joy on ones face." A nurse broke in, pushing in a wheelchair.

"Thanks Joan, but I can walk, I don't mind." Haley told her.

"Hospital policy I'm afraid dear, now why don't we get you on this and get you going?" Joan told her.

"Can I help?" Brooke asked.

"No it's fine, being doing his half my life, I've got it." Joan answered.

"Where's Taylor?" Haley asked as she was helped.

"Taylor went to get you you're prescription, she should be here..."

"Now." Taylor interrupted.

"Yay, we can go now!" Haley exclaimed happily. "No offence though Joan, you've been great."

"None taken dear. I'm glad I could help dear."

"Let's get going," Brooke, told them as she went behind Haley and started pushing the wheelchair, heading out of the hospital room to her car.

**xxxx**

The ride home had been more relaxed than the previous ride there. Knowing Haley was going to be all right, calmed both Brooke and Taylor down immensely. Now they were home and Haley was in Taylor's bedroom, feeling safer there than she did in her own room. She had taken a painkiller less than ten minutes ago and it was already kicking in. She was getting drowsy, but the was zero pain, so she could deal with that. Brooke was in the room with her. Brooke. She was the best.

"Arn't you go in 'ome?" Haley slurred.

"What and leave you here alone? Never." Brooke told her back.

"Tay, here." Haley tried to explain.

"Yeah, but still I'm here till you get better, it's not like I'll be missed. My parents are either a) at a party being held by some big corporation or b) throwing one. So yeah I'll stay right here." Brooke explained, bouncing her leg up and down, like she was fidgiting.

"Good. You no wha' you 're?" Haley slurred again.

"What?" Brooke wondered.

"Tigger, you're my Tigger." She told Brooke with a small, tired, drowsy smile.

"I can deal with that."

"C'mere Tigger." Haley told her. Then waited for Brooke to come close.

"What can I do for you, my little Roo?" Brooke asked, sitting next to Haley on her bed.

"Roo?"

"If you get one, then I get one. Plus he's the cutest, so therefore, I must name you it." Brooke told her.

"Lay down next to me? Just till I fall sleep?"

"Of course I will."

"Thanks Tigger." Haley told her as Brooke did as she was asked and lay down next to her. Seconds later Brooke felt Haley scooch closer and rested her head on top of her shoulder. It was comfortable.

As time went on Brooke felt Haley's breathing even out and knew she was asleep, turning her head to the side, she looked at her. She didn't know how long she looked at Haley, but she couldn't take her eyes away. Brooke felt her eyes get heavy and then they closed. She was only going to close them for a second, just a second.

**xxxx**

Waking up earlier today, Brooke had found herself still laying in bed, with Haley next to her. It _really_ wasn't the worst way to wake up, defiantly the opposite of worse. But she had someplace she needed to go and here she was.

Walking down the deserted corridors of Tree Hill High, Brooke had a destination in mind, she had left Haley asleep, knocked out by the painkillers to really know who was coming and going, in her house. She walked with a purpose and turned the corner and saw the double door's to the school's gym. She would bet any money she had that, that was where _he_ was. _'He's going to pay, after everything Haley went through last night because of him. He'll pay if it's the last thing I do.'_ Moving forward some more, Brooke came to a halt when the double door's were pushed open.

"Jake, practice over?" Brooke asked him.

"Sure is Brooke, I'm sorry but I gotta run, my parents are looking after Jenny and they're heading out soon. Have a good night." Jake explained, then started to walk away.

"Wait Jageilski, is Nathan still in there?" she asked him.

"Yeah he is, only one in there too. Coach told him he was too distracted during practice, so he needed to stay behind and practice some lay-up." Jake told her with a soft smile.

"Thanks Jake." Brooke told him as he headed off down the Corridor. _'Time to get this over with.'_

"Bye Brooke." he called over his shoulder, with a small wave.

Turning around Brooke made her way to the gym doors, pushing them open. Clenching both her fists together, was all she could do to stop herself from just running at Nathan and attacking him with everything she had. _'God look at him, just acting like nothing's happened. He sickens me, he should be burning in some kind of hell, not being some star basketball player around school, he doesn't deserve that one bit.'_

Nathan hadn't noticed her yet, so Brooke walked further into the hall and came to a stop near the bleachers. Picking up a discarded basketball, she bounced it on to the floor, the noise successfully getting Nathan's attention.

"Brooke? What's up?" he asked her, as if he hadn't a care in the world.

"Oh you know the usual," Brooke began calmly, walking closer to him, bouncing the ball a few more times, then brought it to a halt as she held it tightly in her hands. "Cheerleading practice, fixing the faux pa fashion mistakes of the school," she stated to him in her usual perky voice. "Oh yeah, there was one other thing I had to do," Brooke told him, her voice suddenly sounding dangerous and squeezing the ball to herself tighter. "Beat the living daylights out of you." And before Nathan knew what was happening, the basketball Brooke had, had in her hand was sailing through the air and only stopped as it smacked off of Nathan's face. _'Well damn, that had to hurt. Nothing he doesn't deserve._

Nathan so surprised at what had just happened, flew backwards onto the floor, due to the impact of the ball to his face and the shock he was feeling.

"How did that feel Nathan?" Brooke questioned, but carried on talking not letting him get a word in. '_I hope it hurt you bastard!'_ "Do you think it hurt more or less than when you backhanded Haley across her own face? Here's a question for you, do you think when you leave this gym, are you going to be hurting just like Haley was or so much worse?" _'It's gonna be so much worse Nate, so much worse. _She watched him try to scramble to his feet, but before he could Brooke had walked over to him and much like he had done to Haley, she brought her foot forward and kicked him in his ribs. "No you're staying down."

"You bitch!" Nathan spat at her.

"Me bitch, you a complete and utter asshole." Brooke told him with a grim smile. "Self defence classes are a _gem_ Nate. They're all about teaching you how to defend yourself against bastards like you, not to mention they're a pretty good way to keep in shape as well. Let's see, the first move we learned, was how to get your attacker on their back, I guess I won't need to worry about that huh?" she told him with an amused smile. "What was the second thing? Oh yeah toe step, elbow to the gut, groin kick. Why don't we just move along to that last bit huh?" Which Brooke proceeded to do, bringing her foot back and with as much force as she could muster brought it forward, smiling as it came in contact with his groin.

Nathan's scream, resounded throughout the empty gym hall, the pain he was feeling was nothing but agony and Brooke couldn't be happier. Looking around, her came to rest on a discarded weight. If the smirk on Brooke's face could be described as a word, then sinister would be it. Walking over to it, Brooke picked it up and then walked back over to him. _'Am I really going to do this? Won''t this just make me as bad as him? I have the power here to be the bigger person, and just walk away. But Haley, was he the bigger man, did walk away from her, no he didn't. So why should I?' _

"What're you gonna do with that?" Nathan wheezed as he questioned her.

"Oh nothing much, but thank whoever was using it." Brooke told him. _'Should I?'_

"Lucas," Was his answer.

"Might just have to thank that boy, or should he be thanking me?" she asked him rhetorically. "He is gonna be the star player on the team now. Let me ask you something Nathan, ok?"

"O...ok." he stuttered.

"Why did you do it? What possessed you to do that to Haley?" _'Tell me Nate, give me a reason not to do this. Because I have a reason to do this, did you? I'm justified, I want to protect Haley, what's your justification?'_

"Because I could." Was Nathan's simple statement, with an almost cocky grin, and with that, Brooke's decision was made.

Without any warning to Nathan, she brought the end of the weight down on his hand. Once, twice and a third time. "No fun playing with a broken hand now is there?" Brooke asked with a wide smile, which only seemed to get wider as she heard Nathan whimper and watched as he screwed his eyes shut. _'I'm nothing like you, you deserved that. I may not have used the power I had over you for good, but I'm still a better person than you'll ever be.' 'Now I'm going to walk away.'_

"I'll tell everyone, you psychotic bitch!" he gasped at her.

"You do that Nate, and I'll be sure to tell _every_ single person, who's listening about what you did to Haley." she told him with a shrug. "But what you're really gonna say is that, the floor was slippy, and you fell into the bleachers which caused the weight to fall onto your hand. Brooke told him, looking him straight in the eye. "I mean _really_ Nathan, who's gonna believe that a _girl_ got the better of you? And come on Nate, would it be any fun to tell your friend that you got beat on by a girl?"

"Fine." he growled at her.

"One more thing Nathan, you come _anywhere_ near Haley, you so much as look at her in the wrong way, I'll castrate you and I'll have fun doing it. You see her walking in the halls, you better get your ass going in the different direction. Do you understand?" _'Now I'm going to walk away.'_

With a nod Nathan agreed, and without a word Brooke turned her back on him and walked away, leaving him hurt and broken in a heap on the gym floor, much like he had done to Haley.

**End of Chapter 5**

**Phew, long one huh? Thanks for sticking with me and reading it all, proves you can read, and your diploma will be sent to you via mail, please wait for 3 to 5 working days, review and it'll get there between 1 to 2 working days! (Reviewer's always get special treatment!)**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N - **Hey people, you guys are really, really great at leaving the reviews, and I will always appriciate you all for that. This chapter is like a filler, to move things along story wise, but I still hope you enjoy it, it is baley after all, what's not to enjoy about that? So read and review.

**Disclaimer** - Bah! I know what I want for Christmas, other than the first Season of One Tree Hill on dvd, the contracts saying I own the rights to OTH! And of course Bethany in my stocking! But alas, I don't see any of that happening, so I guess that Mark is one lucky guy!

**xxxx**

**Chapter 6 - Open Eyes, Open Heart, Open Up and Be All You Are.**

Waking up groggily, was so much better than waking up in unbelievable pain, or so Haley had found out. '_Man, these painkillers, sure have a kick to them,' _was her lackadaisical thought. It almost felt like she was floating, it really was kinda neat. Her mind felt like a gigantic, fluffy, cotton wool ball, and her mouth was as dry as the Sahara. She really needed a drink. Finally remembering how, Haley opened her eyes, then wondered how she could only see out of one of them. Then like a switch that had been flipped on, all of last night came flooding back to her. Nathan beating her, Brooke saving her, Taylor showing up. It really was amazing what could actually happen in the space of twenty-four hours.

Yawning slightly, Haley winced a little as her cut lip stretched, threatening to open up again. '_Oh it sure is great being me!'_ was her self deprecating thought. Squinting slightly she looked around the room, Taylor's bedroom. Speaking of, she saw her sister asleep in the chair next to her, yet Brooke was nowhere in sight. Haley was pretty sure that Brooke was here when she fell asleep last night, _'So where is she now?' _Turning to her right, she noticed Taylor stir and open her eyes, only to shut them as the sun from outside, shone in through the window. Moving her head away from the direction the sun, Taylor reopened her eyes and saw Haley looking at her.

"Hey sweetie, how are you feeling?" she asked, glad to see that Haley didn't seem to be in any pain.

"I'm ok, a little spacey, but not of the bad kind." Haley told her. "Do you know where Brooke is?" she asked curiously.

"Brooke had an errand to run, she didn't tell me what, but she was hoping to be back before you woke up." Taylor explained Brooke's whereabouts. "Told me to watch over you, since she couldn't. Seems like a nice girl."

"She is." Haley agreed.

"So when did you know?"

"Know what Tay?"

"Know that you liked her." Taylor elaborated with a smirk.

"She kinda grows on you, then it's like impossible not to like her." Haley replied, misunderstanding the question.

"Hales," Taylor dawdled out. "Come on tell me the truth! When did you look at her and go, '_Wow, that Brooke, is one nice piece of ass!'" _she finished with a devilish smirk.

"Tay!" Haley exclaimed, shocked. "That is crude! Do not talk about Brooke that way!"

"Why? Are you jealous?" Taylor goaded.

"No! I do not look at Brooke Davis like that! Jees Tay, what made you _even _think of that?"

"Yesterday, gave me a pretty good head's up. I mean I walk in and you two were so close, not body to body close, lips to lips close! If I hadn't walked in on you guys, you two so would have kissed. I'm kinda sorry that I interrupted something..."

"You did _not_ interrupt anything Taylor, it was nothing but the heat of the moment I guess, my emotions were _all_ over the place, Brooke was there, you know how things happen." Haley explained, denying it.

"Bull Haley-Bub, bull! I've seen the way you guys act around each other. Brooke is way protective of you, she was with me at the hospital from the moment you were brought in, till you were aloud home. When the doctor said we could see you, she jumped at the chance and couldn't get there fast enough. And you, god Haley I saw the way you guys were last night, all snuggled up and dead to the world. I came to check up on you, and you were both just the picture of cuteness." Taylor explained, pointing out the obvious.

"Taylor stop it, don't ok, just don't." Haley told her.

"But Haley..."

"No Tay, me and Brooke are friends. _Friends. _Nothing more. Deal with that, ok?"

"Fine." Taylor begrudgingly agreed, while silently thinking. _'No, not ok lil sis, I want you to be happy and if Brooke is the one to do that, then I'll do anything to make sure you guys get together.'_ "Can I get you anything?"

**xxxx**

It had been almost an hour since she had woken up and Brooke, still wasn't back yet. She didn't want to admit it but she missed her. Sighing, she tried to forget what Taylor had said earlier, but it just kept circling her brain no matter how much she tried to make it disappear. She admitted to herself, that she liked Brooke maybe more than she was supposed to, but couldn't that just be put down to a hero complex? People usually developed a crush on there saviour. It wasn't uncommon, that was it, it _had _to be that. She couldn't have a thing for Lucas's ex.

But she did, no matter how much she tried to deny it, the little nagging voice in the back of her mind wouldn't give up until it was heard. As much as she had denied it to Taylor, she was close to kissing Brooke and _both_ times were not in the heat of the moment, she had wanted them, but to actually admit that to someone, to her sister no less, that was moving a little to fast. She didn't even know how Brooke felt, it had looked like she had wanted it to, but how could she be sure. It wasn't like she could just come out and say something like, '_So yeah that almost kiss, what's your thoughts on that then?' _She did know she _liked_ Brooke, it was more than like, but to actually define it with a word, that eluded her, and seemed impossible.

"I love you, Tutor Girl."

"Huh?" Haley wondered, surprised that anyone else was in the room. "You love me?" she continued, with a confused expression.

Laughing lightly, Brooke sat down on the bed and answered. "Had to get your attention somehow right? I've been calling your name for the past couple of minutes Hales, but you just ignored me. I don't know whether to be insulted or what," Brooke carried on with a mock pout. "It's not everyday that I get blanked by such a cutie. I just don't know what the world's coming to!" she finished with an exaggerated sigh.

"Cut it out Tigger, really you talk a lot for someone who hasn't got much to say and has it end with nothing but nonsense." Haley told her with a laugh of her own, Brooke had that kind of effect on her.

"I'm outraged Roo, outraged! I mean really, I only speak the truth!" Brooke told her with a happy smile.

"So I'm a cutie then huh?" Haley asked skeptically.

"Oh yeah, out of a scale of 1 to 10 on my cuteness factor, you totally get an 11." Brooke told her.

"Well now I'm just privileged."

"I should think so to, nobody's _ever_ gotten an 11 before, but your just special."

"Only cause I'm hurt huh?" Haley wondered.

"Oh no, not because you're hurt, I mean I decided this _way_ before you got hurt. People can only wish to have your cuteness, it's cuteness that's envied." Brooke explained.

"You're more crazy that I thought!"

"Again you insult me Roo!" Brooke exaggerated.

"Baby!"

"So how are you?" Brooke asked Haley, changing the subject.

"These drugs are woah! It's like all the pain is in this teeny, tiny, itsy, bitsy, little box that can be crushed in my hand. I _always_ want to feel like this Tigger, it's like heaven." Haley explained lazily.

"So no pain?"

"None, not yet anyway."

"Well color me glad. I don't like it when you hurt. I can't do anything to stop it and I so want to. I felt so helpless yesterday and I hate that." Brooke told her.

"Tigger, I'll get better, it'll take time but I'm gonna get better and then you can stop with the worrying." Haley said with a smile, thankful that Brooke made her feel better. "Where were you this morning?" she wondered.

"Home." Brooke lied, she didn't want to, but she didn't need to upset Haley. "I needed to get a change of clothes."

"I'm glad you came back."

"Where else would I want to be?" Brooke asked, looking at Haley like she was mad for even thinking she'd go someplace else.

"I hear Disneyland is a fun place to be." Haley joked.

"Oh sweetie, Disneyland has nothing on you, absolutely nothing." Brooke responded as she moved up the bed, till she was lying next to Haley. "Don't even get me started on The Magic Kingdom, it really doesn't compare to the wonders that is you."

"Thanks Brooke." Haley told her.

"For what?" Brooke wondered.

"For everything."

"I don't need thanks for that. But since we are talking about everything and nothing, can I get you anything?"

"I could go for some water, my mouth feels like a desert, yet again."

"I can get that for you." Brooke told her with a smile, as she got up off of the bed. "Be right back." she told Haley as she walked out of Taylor's bedroom and headed downstairs to the kitchen.

As she descended the stairs and walked through the James's living-room, she smiled at Taylor who was sitting on the sofa.

"Whatcha up to?" Taylor asked her, getting up off of the sofa and following her.

"I'm getting Haley a drink, she's thirsty."

"Hmm, ok." Taylor told her with a smile, and continued to just look at her.

"What?"

"Oh, nothing."

"No it's _some_thing, tell me." Brooke asked, putting a glass under the running tap, filling it with water.

"You and Haley just amuse me." Taylor remarked.

"And how pray tell do we manage that?" Brooke wondered, while turning the tap off and setting Haley drink on top of the kitchen counter.

"Cuteness factor of 11." Taylor repeated Brooke's earlier words. "You really don't see it do you?"

"See what?"

"If you don't see it now, you will soon, I mean you can't deny it, it's _there_."

"Taylor you're not making much sense."

"I am. Maybe not to you or even my sister, but I see it and I think it's cute."

"Ok," Brooke sounded out, frowning in Taylor's direction, wondering if she to had taken Haley's painkillers and it had the reverse affect on her. "I'm gonna go, give this to Haley." she continued, picking up Haley's glass of water and heading towards the staircase.

"Open your eyes Brooke, see what's in front of you, cause it's something wonderful." Was Taylor's last words to Brooke as she disappeared from sight.

**xxxx**

Walking into the bedroom, Brooke saw Haley, just lying there, her eyes closed and looking like an angel. This girl would be the death of her yet, if she kept on looking so adorable in every situation. Not my girls could pull off the adorable look, with the amount of bruises Haley had, but she had. That was the only word floating through Brooke's head as she saw her, adorable, so damn adorable. She'd admit it to herself, and only to herself. Though from what Taylor had been saying, it seemed she wasn't the only one to know about her thing for Haley. Taylor's words still confused her, did she mean that Haley was that something wonderful in front of her, cause she already knew that, it really wasn't that hard to see. She just didn't know if she was that something wonderful to Haley. Who would have thought, that she, Brooke Davis, would be afraid to let someone know how she felt about them, it was ironic really, she'd never really had this problem before. She guessed it was just Haley, and the way she made her feel, like she had invaded all of her and knocked down her inner walls, which was way more than Lucas had ever done, in there brief romance, that they called a relationship, as his girlfriend.

If someone had told her six months ago, hell even a month ago, that she would be in the James's residence, worrying about Haley, caring about her and feeling what she felt for her, she probably would have laughed in their face, and then slapped them at the absurdity, of what they were telling her, but now it was true, and she didn't want to do anything to stop it.

"Well, are you just gonna stand there all day, or are you gonna come closer?" Haley's voice interrupted, her inner musings.

"Sorry Tutor Girl, thoughts." Brooke told her, all the while walking closer to the bed. Handing Haley her glass of water she took a seat next to her. "You look tired." she stated, after Haley had sat the glass down, on her bedside table.

"I am," Haley told her with a sigh. "I just woke up though, I shouldn't be, I wish I wasn't."

"Roo, after what you've been through you need all the sleep you can get. Sleep, I'll be here when you wake up." Brooke told her.

"Promise?"

"I promise."

"Can you tell me a story?" Haley asked shyly.

"Of course I can." Brooke replied with a smile. "Which one?" she wondered, as she moved up the bed, until she was leaning against the headboard.

"Make one up." Haley said, moving closer to Brooke, snuggling up to her, and wrapping an arm over her stomach.

"Ok," Brooke agreed, lifting her hand as she brushed away a few strands of Haley's hair that covered her face, and then started to gently run her finger's through it, almost soothingly. "There once was this Princess, and her name was Haley," Brooke began, causing Haley to giggle at the Princesses name. "And throughout the land, of Tree Hill, Princess Haley was beloved by almost everyone who she came across. Little children loved her, other Princesses could only wish to have her beauty. And what a beauty she had, it was blinding, she could make grown men fall to their knees in awe. Now you'd think, because she had all this so called _power_ over almost everyone, that she'd use it to get everything she wanted. But no, not Princess Haley, she was the kindest of soul's, she wouldn't hurt a fly. That was part of the reason why everyone loved her, worshipped her almost."

"She sounds nice." Haley told Brooke, sounding sleepy.

"Oh she is, like you wouldn't believe. So one day the Princess, was happily walking around the outskirts of the castle, taking in the scenery, basking in the greenery, when suddenly out of nowhere, this vile, ugly, rank ogre, who we'll call Nate, jumped out at the Princess and roared at her, frightening her. She backed away from him in fright, but he advanced towards her, getting closer and closer. Then he lifted his grubby, dirty hand intent on touching her, when out of nowhere a rock hit his head, sending him sprawling to the ground below him."

"Looking up, the fair Princess looked at her saviour, and couldn't help but smile as she saw her best friend ever. Princess Brooke. Who rushed up to Princess Haley, and made sure she was all right, once she was sure that she was, Princess Brooke turned her attention to the vile ogre, who looked at her fearfully, and once the ogre saw the Princesses glare, he stumbled to his feet and scurried away." Brooke continued, looking down at Haley. She was asleep. Smiling to herself she carried on with the story.

"Turning back to what was important to her, Princess Brooke walked to Princess Haley, and found herself engulfed in a thankful hug. Pulling back they looked at each other, and Princess Brooke was mesmerised, with her best friend in front of her, leaning forward she grazed her own lips with that of Princess Haley's and heaven was found, and they lived happily ever after." she finished, wistfully.

_'We dishonour ourselves by not telling the truth. The truth about what we feel, what we think and what we want.' _Brooke didn't know where that thought came from or where the hell she remembered it from, but it rang true to her in that moment, she wanted Haley, she wanted everything with Haley, the up's and the down's, the good and the bad, everything. She just had to figure out if Haley wanted that too, and how she was gonna go about getting what she wanted.

Little did she know that a certain sister was pondering something along those same lines. Taylor had been walking back from the bathroom and heard Haley ask for a story, and she had felt inclined to listen. Now she knew Brooke felt something for Haley, and all she had to do was find away to get Haley to admit that she liked Brooke, like Brooke liked her and all would be peachy.

Leaving the two girls alone in the inner sanctum that was her room, snuggled together and looking like the picture of perfect happiness, Taylor headed downstairs, putting together a plan of action, to get them together.

**End of Chapter 6**

**So yeah, this chapter wasn't as long as the 7,0 plus words I wrote of the last chapter, but I thought I'd give you dear readers, a little rest on those eyes of yours...but FLUFF, you have to have that every now and then, so this is my now, then...go review I urge you to do so...let me know what you think. Thanks.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer - **I do not own One Tree Hill or anything to do with it, as sad as that is, I mean I cry myself to sleep cause I don't own them...ok that's exagerating things, but I do wish I owned something or _someone _to do with OTHcan you guess who that would be? Also I don't own the song, "_Why Don't You Kiss Her?" _by_ Jesse McCartney _or _"Angels" _by _Sarah McLachan, _good songs, you should seek them out and listen to them.

**A/N - **You guys are really great, you know that. Thank you all so much for the reviews, I cherish everyone dearly...now I'm on a BJL high, so I'll be working on the next chapter and hopefully I'll get it posted sooner, rater than later, it's all about that supply and demand! Let's get on with the chapter shall we?

**xxxx**

**Chapter 7 - Leaving Behind Nights of Terror and Fear, Into a Daybreak That's Wondrously Clear.**

The night had passed, and turned into a new day, but Brooke had done the same as the night before. She had only closed her eyes for a moment and yet here she was waking up in bed next to Haley again. The smile on her face was simply due to the fact that Haley was still snuggled up against her, with her arm flung haphazardly over her stomach, and one of her legs were entwined with Brooke's own. But what she liked the most, was the fact that Haley's head was resting on top of her shoulder, it gave Brooke the perfect view of what she thought was an angelic face. Brooke could stay this way forever, she was just so damn comfy and if her life defended on it, she so wouldn't move.

So she lay there just relaxing, next to what she thought was the girl of her dreams, and she was happy. Happier than she had been, since her break-up with Luke. Haley was a marvel to her, the way she made her feel amazingly better within the space of time, they had gotten to know each other. She wished, that she had the ability to travel back in time, smack her then self upside the head and point her in the direction of the then Haley James. She knew her now though, and that was better than not knowing her at all.

Brooke felt Haley stir, moving closer to her as her body moved when she stretched, _'Yeah torture first thing in the morning, that's what the doctor ordered. But it was a good kind of torture, if there was a good kind.' _Brooke's inner voice spoke up. The feeling of Haley's body, pushing into her own as she stretched, sent a pleasant hum throughout her own body, almost like every nerve in Brooke's body was set on fire and came alive. '_God, to feel like this every day, to wake up next to Haley would be heaven. Heaven would be good to wake up to every morning.'_

Groaning as she moved her body, Haley felt her muscles move with her, some good, some bad. The bad being the injured parts. But waking up next to Brooke, made her forget the hurt that they caused her. Brooke in herself was like one giant painkiller. '_Oh to always be waking up her.' _Was Haley's lazy thought.

"Hey." Brooke whispered, her mouth next to Haley's ear, which caused an involuntary shiver to run through Haley at Brooke's almost silky smooth voice.

"Hi." Haley whispered back, her voice catching as she spoke.

"How are you?" Brooke wondered.

"Good," Haley began softly. "The painkillers from yesterday haven't wore off yet, so I'm pain free for about at least another hour or two." she explained.

"Good." Brooke replied with a smile.

"What time is it?" Looking around, Brooke looked at the bright red numbers of the digital clock on the bedside table. Taking in the numbers and what they meant, she let out a heavy sigh, before answering. "Six."

"Oh, joy." Haley mumbled, sitting up slowly, pushing the covers off of herself and Brooke.

"Yeah, six on a week day, can only mean one thing." Brooke said.

"School." Both of them replied, at the same time.

"I don't want to go, it'd be so much better to just stay here with you, pretend that the rest of the world wasn't out there, that we were the only ones." Brooke told her.

"But you have to Tigger, how else will you learn the wonderful facts of the world?" Haley joked.

"I could just stay here and then I'd have my very own, very special tutor girl to teach me. Yeah, I so don't see why I have to go and subject myself to the horror's of Tree Hill High, when I could very well just stay here and learn so much more, than I ever would learn from any other teacher at school." Brooke reasoned.

"Nice try Tigger, but you see if you don't go, people are gonna start to talk, I mean Brooke Davis, Queen B of Tree Hill High, actually not turning up, not one but _two_ days in a row?" Haley began. "You know they'll be talk."

"Hmm, valid point. Why do I listen to you?" Brooke asked her.

"Cause you think I'm the best." Haley gloated. "And if you didn't you'd feel guilty."

"Hmm yeah, that would be it Roo." Brooke agreed. "But really if you want me too, I'd so stay here with you, just like that. All you have to is asked." Brooke continued, almost pleading with Haley to let her stay.

"You know I want you too, but Brooke school's important." Haley reasoned.

"Fine, I'll go." Brooke told her with a pout. "But only because you told me to."

"Do you have a change of clothes?"

"Yeah, I brought a change with me yesterday, figured I'd end up staying, so I brought a second change of clothes with me. I mean I didn't want to disappear again, without a valid excuse." Brooke told her.

"You should go get ready then." Haley suggested, as she moved closer to Brooke and rested her head back onto Brooke's shoulder, contradicting her words.

"Yeah, that would be a start." Brooke agreed again, but she didn't move for another half an hour.

**xxxx**

So here she was, two and a half hours later, patiently waiting for the bell to ring, signalling the end of the class and the start of lunch. Brooke was bored mindless and she _missed_ Haley. She had, throughout the entire lesson, doodled Haley's name, over and over her paper in all shapes and styles. What could she say, Math's bored her, she didn't get numbers and all that damn Trig, _then_ to add letters! Were they trying to screw with her mind? Math's was numbers, English was words and letters.

Looking at the clock by the classroom door, Brooke sighed in annoyance. Five minutes. She still had five minutes left. She could have sworn that that was what she had to wait ten minutes ago. Time sucked.

She would be having _way_ more fun with Haley, than she ever would here. She was besotted with that girl. No one had _ever_ made her feel this...this...this way. Words eluded her when it came to define the way Haley made her feel. To Brooke, Haley was like an enigma, a puzzle of sorts, that she was more than willing to figure out, if that meant that she could wake up next to Haley every day. Yeah she's figure her out. The loud shrill of the bell, jolted Brooke from her thoughts. Five minutes had passed already? Time sure was a tricky thing.

Getting out of her seat, Brooke reached into her jeans pocket and pulled out her mobile phone. Flipping it open, she dialled the number that was slowly climbing it's way to the top of her contacts list.

_"Hello?"_

"Roo!" Brooke stated happily.

_"Tigger!" _Haley replied equally as happy.

"I'm so bored." Brooke told her, smiling as she passed countless students in the hall. She loved Haley's nickname for her, it always made her smile.

_"Yeah, cause being at home is a real exciting place to be."_ Haley told her.

"Miss me?" Brooke asked jokingly.

_"Always." _Haley answered in her own joking tone, but it was the truth, she did miss Brooke, it was so dull without her there.

"Miss you too." Brooke told her honestly. "Where's Taylor?"

_"She went to get some groceries."_ Haley replied.

"You're alone!" Brooke erupted, in the middle of the school corridor, just outside the cafeteria's double doors, causing everyone to look her way. Glaring at them, she growled out a '_What?'_ before turning back to her conversation with Haley. "How could she leave you alone? Does she have a brain? What if you needed something? What if the pain comes back, without warning?" she continued, rattling off numerous question, one after the other, not letting Haley answer. "That's it, I'm coming home, just don't do anything that can result in you hurting yourself even more, I'll be there in about ten minutes tops." Brooke finished, ready to hang up.

"Tigger!" Haley admonished down the phone. "Chill would you, I'm hungry. I asked her to go get food for me, and she actually reacted much like you did, just now there." she finished off with an amused tone.

"Oh."

"Yeah, so you don't need to worry. But thanks though."

"Anytime." Brooke stated. "Anytime."

"I'll see you when school's out?"

"With bell's on," Brooke told with a giggle.

"See you then?"

"Yeah till then. Bye then?"

"Bye."

Slowly clicking her phone shut, Brooke pushed the door in front of her open and entered the cafeteria. _'Oh the joy's of school food.'_

**xxxx**

Pushing the supermarket trolley round the aisle, Taylor was in deep thought. _'How exactly do I get two of the most stubborn girls I've ever met, to admit that they like each other and then together?'_

_'I'll have to wait till Haley gets better obviously, but there's no harm in dropping little hints every now and then, subtle hints. Would an anvil, telling each other that they feel the same, aboutthe other, be subtle enough? Hmm, where can you buy anvils?' _Taylor thought jokingly.

Looking into the trolley, she noticed that she hadn't picked up Haley's, Polly O' Cheese strings and Oreo's. Pushing the cart in the direction of the items, her mind began to wander again.

_'Would it be wrong to sit them both down and just tell them that they both liked the other?' _That would be the simplest thing to do. But it didn't seem likely, she knew they'd deny it, so she had to put a plan together. A workable plan. One that wouldn't fail. She wanted to make her sister happy, to make her forget that assclown of an ex, she used to call a boyfriend. When she met him, and she would, Taylor would be sure to make sure he paid, so much more, than he had ever made Haley hurt.

After picking up the Oreo's a few minutes back, Taylor came to a stop in front of the Polly O' Cheese strings and put a few packets into her cart, and then headed to the checkout, before heading home to her sister.

**xxxx**

Sitting in a room by yourself, with nothing to do and no one to talk to, was crazy boring. That was what Haley had found out. _'Why did I tell Brooke, she needed to go to school again? That's right, cause you have a big mouth and don't think about how boring it's going to be when you're sitting doing nothing.'_ Yeah, she was bored and she hated it. Daytime tv sucked. Talk shows, soap operas and more talk shows. If she saw another episode of Jerry Springer, she was willing to pull her own hair out. She did not care for subjects such as, **'My cheating ex-husband wants me back, but it's too late, I'm having his fathers baby...but it could be his brother's!' **

Looking at the digital clock next to her, she noted the time. 11:45 am. Brooke was out in 3 hours, 5 minutes. "What in the hell am I meant to do till then?" she wondered out loud, helplessly.

Sighing restlessly, she picked up the remote and flicked through the television channels, stopping when she came upon the music channels, her only salvation, from a world of bad acting. The channel she was on, was playing a song, that was already halfway through, but the words of the song spoke to her, the were eerily similar to what she was feeling.

_Why don't you kiss her?  
Why don't you tell her?  
Why don't you let her see the feelings that you hide?  
Cause she'll never know,  
If you never show,  
The way you feel inside. _

Oh, I'm so afraid, to make the first move,  
Just a touch and we could cross the line,  
Everytime she's near,  
I wanna never let her go,  
Confess to her what my heart knows.  
Hold her close.

It was like a big neon sign was flashing in her face, telling her what to do. Every word struck her core, like a knife to the heart. Yeah she should do what the song said, pluck up the courage and just tell Brooke. But what if she did and walked away, leaving her. Losing her mind would be better than losing Brooke. She would rather have her as a friend, than as nothing at all. _'Why can't I just tell her? Why is it so hard?' _she silently asked herself. '_Is it because I don't want to be hurt again?' _

Haley didn't know, but she suspected it was.

**xxxx**

Brooke aimlessly pushed her mashed potatoes around on her plate. They were like mush, and tasteless, definitely something she did _not_ want to eat. She'd grab something when she got to Haley's. Art was after lunch, and she figured since it wasn't an incredibly important subject, missing it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world and she really wanted to go see Haley.

"Uh Brooke?"

Dropping her fork onto her plate, Brooke looked up to see an uneasy Lucas standing uncomfortably in front of her. Peyton standing behind him. Staring at them, Brooke took them both in and felt nothing. Their was no hurt, no betrayal, no nothing. Why had she been so upset in the first place? Mostly because Peyton was her best friend and had got with Luke behind her back. Friend's didn't do that.

"Lucas, Peyton, what can I do for you both?" she asked in an indifferent tone, causing both of their faces to cloud with confusion.

"Um, I was wondering about Haley," Lucas began. "I tried calling her, but she didn't answer her phone, so I asked Nathan, but he was kinda weird, and I saw you two hanging out a few days ago, so I was wondering if you knew what was up with her." he finished in an uncharacteristic babble.

"Wow, babble much Luke!" Brooke smirked. "Haley's ill." she told them both, thinking up an excuse.

"Oh, well I'll go round and see her after school then." Luke suggested.

"No," Brooke replied casually, her eyes widening a fraction. "Contagious, you go near her and you'll get it." she explained.

"She'll need someone to look after her." he told her.

"Taylor's looking after her, she'll be ok." Brooke told him.

"Taylor's home? Cool." Lucas said with a smile.

"Luke man, coach wants you." A voice said from behind him and Peyton, and as he moved to the side, Brooke's eyes raged as she saw Nathan.

"What for man?" Luke asked Nathan, oblivious to what Brooke was feeling, but Peyton noticed it straight away. She had known Brooke since before she could walk, she knew everything she was feeling, she had adapted it over the years, and the pure hatred in her eyes looking Nathan's way was unmistakable. '_What in the hell happened there?' _she wondered.

"He needs to talk about new plays and defence, since I won't be playing for a while." Nathan explained to him, sounding a a little bitter, towards the end.

"And why aren't you playing Nate?" Brooke questioned, sound sickly sweet.

His eyes widening, Nathan realised that Brooke was there for the first time, and there was no mistaking her feelings towards him as he saw the look in her eyes. "I..I tripped and hurt my hand, it was stupid really." he answered her, retelling the excuse Brooke had told him to say.

"Such a shame really, I mean the one thing you needed to be what you are, a basketball star, and now it's gone. I wonder, what would happen if, hypothetically speaking, this was permanent, like oh say you were in a car accident, that would just be devastating wouldn't it?" she told him, with a rhetorical question. "But hey, that isn't the issue, I mean there's no reason for that to happen, by chance or intentionally, you haven't done anything wrong have you?"

"Not that I know of," he lied, fearful of what Brooke was planning.

"Well there you go, as long as you be careful and do as you're told, everything should be ok." She told them standing up, lunch was almost over and she could not stick around in Nathan's presence any longer, without causing him anymore harm. "I'll see you guys around." Was her parting words as she walked away.

**xxxx**

"Guys, I'll be back later, bye." Peyton told Lucas and Nathan, as she headed after Brooke. Something really wasn't right, what she had said to Nathan, the way she had said it, her voice dripping with contempt. She wanted to know what was going on. Pushing the main doors to the school open, she spotted Brooke further ahead, picking up her pace, till she was in a slow jog, and then slowed down into a walk as she drew level with Brooke.

"What do you want Sawyer?" Brooke asked her tiredly, she had better places to be, than stuck at school, talking to her boyfriend stealing ex-best friend.

"What's up with you and Nathan?" Peyton asked her, wanting to know.

"I have no clue what you're talking about." Brooke replied, playing dumb.

"Bull Brooke, have you guys had a thing? Are you jealous of Hales? Cause Brooke, doing that to Haley is so not on." Peyton accused.

"God no Peyton, I would never do that to Haley." Brooke defended herself. "Last time I checked, I wasn't you, did you think about me when you kissed him, did I even cross your mind?"

"Brooke..." Peyton started.

"No forget it Peyton, I don't care, I'm passed it now. Now if you'll excuse me, I have some place better to be." Brooke dismissed her.

"Brooke come on, I saw what was happening between you and Nate, tell me. There used to be a time you'd tell me everything."

"Yeah Peyton, but there was a time I trusted you. Things change." Brooke told her, moving away only to have Peyton grab hold of her arm.

"Maybe we can get that back? We could be friends again." Peyton hoped.

"We're not friends Peyton, acquaintances maybe, but not friends. Not yet, not like we used to be. So bye." Brooke told her again wanting to leave.

"Where are you going?" she wondered.

"To see Haley." Brooke answered.

"I thought she was ill?"

"She is."

"So why are you going to see her, I mean Nathan should be doing that." Peyton reasoned.

"Yeah," Brooke scoffed. "He's just what she needs, may the world be filled with men like Nathan."

"Ok, seriously Brooke what's going on?" Peyton demanded to know.

"It's none of your business." Brooke informed her, pulling her arm out of Peyton grasp and walking away, leaving Peyton to stare after her as she got into her car and drove away.

Arriving at Haley fifteen minutes later, Brooke sighed as she arrived back at normality. She didn't care what Haley said, she _so_ wasn't going back to Tree Hill High tomorrow, and she was sticking to that, as long as Haley didn't do anything to cute to make her change her mind.

Getting out of her car she walked in and made her way to where Haley was. The bedroom door was open just a crack, looking in, Brooke could only smile as she saw Haley, just lying on bed, watching some random music channel and tapping her foot gently along with the beat of whatever song was on. To her Haley hand never looked so beautiful, than she was in that moment.

"So tired of the straight line, and everywhere you turn, there's vultures and thieves at your back, and the storm keeps on twisting, you keep on building the lie, that you make up for all that you lack, it don't make no difference, escaping one last time, it's easier to believe in this sweet madness oh, this glorious sadness that brings me to my knees." Brooke heard Haley sing.

With her mouth hanging open, Brooke pushed the door open, swinging it shut behind her as she walked fully into the room. "Damn Roo, where's you learn to sing like _that?"_

"Uh," Haley hesitated, she hadn't expected Brooke back this early, and was a little startled. "I'm not all that good, I just like to sing along with some songs."

"Not all that good?" Brooke repeated not believing what Haley was saying, while sitting next to her on the bed. "If you're not all that good, then I must be hearing things, cause Hales, that was some voice I heard. You're really good." she told her.

"I'm not really."

"You are!" Brooke stressed. "When you feel better, will you sing for me?"

"I don't know Tigger, I've never sang for anyone before."

"Please, you're really good, I would love to hear you sing for me, please?"

"Ok," Haley agreed with a sigh.

Smiling, Brooke reached over and hugged Haley in thanks, and then pulled back.

"What are you doing back so early anyway?" Haley wondered.

"Let's just say, I was missing my favourite Tutor Girl, and I bumped into the school's resident asshole. So yeah school tomorrow, not happening."

"Nathan?" Haley asked.

"Yes, it was all I could do to not scratch his eyes out in front of the cafeteria." Brooke told her, then changing the subject. "What's up with you then cutie?"

"Tigger, I've been so bored! If I _ever_ see another Jerry Springer episode it'll be to soon! Never listen to me, about going to school again."

"Don't worry sweetie, I won't..." Brooke began, but the slamming of the front door stopped her, looking over to Haley she wondered who it could be.

"It's probably Taylor, coming back from the supermarket."

"Taylor, is that you?" Brooke shouted, only to receive no answer.

Hearing footsteps coming up the stairs, Brooke got up off of the bed. "Wait here Hales, I'll be right back." she told Haley.

"Brooke no, just stay here." Haley said to her.

"But..."

"No just stay!"

"Ok," Brooke agreed, walking back over to the bed. Tensing up as she heard the footsteps get closer, if it had been Taylor, she would have answered. What if it was Nathan? Coming to get some payback for doing that to him, if it was, Brooke had no problem whatsoever taking him down again, she almost willed him to walk through the door.

With each step they both heard the person got closer and closer, until they stopped in front of the door to the bedroom and for a moment everything was still, the only noise heard was the world outside the house, and then that moment was gone and the door started to creak open, to show a blonde standing in the threshold with a determined look on her face, which turned to one of horror as she took in Haley's appearance.

"Peyton."

"Oh my God Haley, what happened to you?" She whispered.

**End of Chapter 7**

**So there you have it, what did y'all think? Review in your thousdands and let me know! I hope you guys enjoyed it tho...enjoyed it enough to leave a review...go on you know you want to!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer - **You know the drill by now right? I do not, in the slightest own or have anything to do with One Tree Hill, or Mark Schwahn. No matter how much, I would love to be, I ask you is it a crime to wanna be a part of that show? And yanno, having Bethany around, not a bad thing.

**A/N - **So yeah, this chapter is mostly Peyton-centric, with a little Brooke and Haley. And I'll take the time to say thank you muchly for the reviews, I love getting them, so feel free to keep on giving them! And can we all say _"Happy Birthday, Bethany." April 2nd._ Let's read shall we?

**xxxx**

**Chapter 8 - Oh, To Be a Cheerleading, Rock Chick.**

She had dated him, and had no idea that he could do that. That he had been capable of his actions towards Haley. When they had been together, sure he hadn't been the best boyfriend, and it was purely a sexual relationship, but he had never seemed violent. Now she just felt sick. Sick to her stomach, that she had ever dated such a monster. A monster, he had to be one if he could do that, and then act like nothing had happened. She felt like she had been thrown off balance. When she had walked into Haley's room, she sure as hell hadn't expected to see Haley like she had been. But Brooke had assured her, when walking her out to her car that, this was Haley getting better. God knows how she looked straight after.

She got Brooke's hostility towards Nathan now, felt the same almost. Haley was innocent in this, Nathan was just an abuser. Whether it be his crappy up bringing or the fact that he was just an ass, he was still an abuser, using his power to get the better of people and to hurt them. But to hurt Haley? That was just damn right outrageous.

Peyton shivered everytime she thought back to her conversation, with both Brooke and Haley.

_"What the hell happened? Are you ok Hales?" Peyton questioned urgently._

_"Peyton? What the hell are you doing here?" Brooke wanted to know._

_"Does it matter Brooke? Look at her, is she ok?"_

_"I'm fine Peyton." Haley told her._

_"Have you seen you? What in the hell happened?" Peyton asked again, repeating her first question._

_"Do you want to take this one Tigger, or shall I?" Haley asked, her question souly for Brooke._

_"I think I'll take it this time Roo, let's give you a break huh?" Brooke told her with a smile as she moved to sit next to Haley on the bed._

_"Do you want the short version or the long version, P. Sawyer?" _

_"Uh, short?" Peyton guessed, she's take any, just so long as she knew what in the hell was going on._

_"Fine, you want to know what happened? All you need to know is that...that," Brooke began, but stalled. Telling someone what had happened to Haley, wasn't as easy as she thought it would be. Taking a breath, she finally told her. "That Nathan did this, like two days ago."_

_"Nathan?" Peyton whispered shocked, more to herself than anyone else. Of all the answers she had expected, that was not one of them. "Really?" she wondered, finding it hard to believe._

_"No, not really Peyton, this was all a prank, congratulations you've been punk'd. Haley here, didn't call me at all, in pain needing my help, nearly passing out over the phone, and I didn't get here to find her in her room, lying on her bed bruised and battered. Nope, you're seeing things." Brooke remarked, sarcasm dripping off of every word._

_"Chill Brooke, lay off of the sarcasm, it doesn't become you." Peyton informed her tensely, to her this was whacked out. Nathan hurt Haley, who he clamed to really care about, Haley had called Brooke and Brooke came running and yet they hardly knew each other. 'Am I in some sort of parallel dimension, where everything's reversed and nothing makes sense?' "I need to sit down." she told them both as she walk further into the room and sat down in the chair next to the bed. "Nathan Scott?" she asked, trying to get her head round that thought._

_"Yeah Pey, Nathan did this to me." Haley told her quietly, her hand in Brooke's._

_"What...I mean how, uh why?" Peyton wondered in confusion. Her mind having had to much to process in the last couple of minutes, and her concept of understanding, was suddenly not there._

_"Who knows why Sawyer, he's an ass, think of all the vile things you can and that's him. He had no reason to do this, other than he could, and that makes him less than a man." Brooke told her hotly._

_"He got jealous I guess, he didn't like that I left with Brooke when he was calling after me." Haley elaborated._

_"He's always been like that, always wanting things his way and if it doesn't...you suffer the consequences I guess." Peyton told them both._

_"You're telling me." Haley answered with a sad laugh, at how ironic what Peyton had said and how true it was._

_"Why are you here?" Brooke wondered._

_"You were acting weird, I was worried so, I followed you and let me tell you that I really wasn't expecting to see Haley like this. You said she was ill, but this...damn Brooke this is crazy."_

_"Don't tell Luke about this, please Peyton?" Haley asked her._

_'How am I meant to keep this from Lucas? That's gonna be impossible.' she thought to herself. _

_Sighing, she answered. "Sure you got it, anything you want, you got it." Peyton promised._

_"Thank you."_

_Looking at Haley, next to Brooke, Peyton felt she was intruding on something. "I should go, you probably need your rest. If it's ok, can I come back and see you?" _

_"Yeah sure, you do have to go though." Haley told her._

_"Yeah Blondie, you can stay." Brooke agreed._

_"Nah, I'll go but I will be back." she told them as she got up off of the chair she was in. _

_"I'll walk you out," Brooke said as she stood up. "I'll be right back Roo." she told Haley with a smile, that was mirrored on Haley's face as, her and Peyton walked out and down to Peyton's car._

_"She looks bad." Peyton stated. _

_"Yeah, well you should have seen her, when I found her. I had no clue what to Peyton, God I was so scared. That asshole did this to her, I want to kill him." Brooke told her._

_"Yeah well, I'll give you an alibi, the guy's got it coming to him." _

_"You won't tell anyone will you?" Brooke wondered._

_"I promise I won't Brooke, you can trust me, always." Peyton told her, stressing the word trust._

_"I guess I can," Brooke answered, relieved. Then looking at Peyton she gave her a smile, that for a change wasn't false. "Thanks Peyton." _

_"I guess that's why you were like that at lunch," Peyton started, then as if realising something, her eyes widened. "You did that to his hand!" It wasn't a question, it was a statement._

_"He deserved it." Brooke told her, not denying it._

_"Yeah, he did." Peyton agreed, moments later. "Does she know?" _

_"No, not yet anyway."_

_"I won't tell her." Peyton told her, getting into her car._

_"Thanks. I guess I'll see you around." Brooke said._

_"Yeah, later Brooke." Were her parting words as she drove off._

Her friendship with Haley was new, but she knew she'd never want that girl hurt, not now, not ever. Then to find out that she was, by Nathan no less, it was mind boggling. Other than Brooke, Haley was really her only other girl friend, and having one of the two most important girls in your life hurt, it just did not bode well with Peyton. She wasn't sure she was past the shock yet, how did you get past your ex-boyfriend, beating up his girlfriend, who had fastly become important to you, yourself. The fact that it was her _ex-boyfriend_ threw her still, Nathan Scott - abuser. It chilled her, she didn't want to sound selfish, but what if she had stayed with him and it had _been _her. She wouldn't have stood up with his shit, but if he could do it to Haley, with seemingly no remorse, then couldn't he do it to almost anyone. That creeped her out the most, not scared her, creeped her out, that if he wanted to, he could hurt anyone, and to Peyton that wasn't something she'd like to see happen, let alone think.

Haley being hurt, wasn't the only thing on her mind. But Brooke and Haley, themselves. She had no idea they were as close as they seemed to be, outside of school, she hadn't a clue they went out of there way to hang out. A few weeks back she didn't even think that they even socialised at school together, apparently she was too focused in her relationship with Lucas to notice, and that just wasn't like her. She noticed things, people, that was her thing. She'd have to take a step back and actually open her eyes to see what was going around her, than just what was happening with her and Luke, she had seen the way Brooke had been acting with Nathan, rightfully so to, so it wouldn't be a losing battle.

She knew Brooke was the sort of person who tried her best to help you if you needed it. Except only if she knew you really well, she wasn't the sort of person who opened up easily, at least not about her feelings, and yet she had been so protective of Haley, that she had actually gone after Nathan and hurt him the only way she knew how. It wouldn't have been the first time either, Brooke had done it for her before as well. Smirking as she remembered that day in Kindergarten so long a go, yet it seemed like it had just happened yesterday.

"_Peyton, what's wrong?" a child like Brooke had asked._

_"Nothing." a little Peyton had answered with a scowl on her face. _

_"I'm your bestest friend Peyton Sawyer, you can tell me anything." Little Brooke had told her._

_"Pete Whiteman, came up to me and said I like stupid music, then he said, it was just like my hair, stupid and curly! Then he pulled it!" Little Peyton told her friend. _

_"Pete Whiteman?" Little Brooke asked._

_"Yes." Little Peyton answered sourly._

_"Fine." Was Little Brooke's parting words as she looked around the playground, seeking out her prey, and as her eyes sought it out, her mouth transformed into a dangerous smirk - as dangerous as a six year old's smirk could get at that age - then stomped across the busy playground, as little Peyton stood watching. _

_Reaching her prey, in the form of a seven year old Pete Whiteman, little Brooke reached up, tapped him lightly on his shoulder, waiting till he turned around. When he did, she gave him a big smile, lifted her foot off of the ground and brought it down on his foot, hard. Her smile only got bigger as Pete started hopping about._

_"That's for calling her stupid!" Little Brooke had shouted, then reached her hand back as far as she could, bringing it forward with as much force as a six year old could, and slapped him across his cheek. "AND THAT'S for pulling her hair!" she told him, turning on her heel and skipping back to Peyton as she left Pete crying behind her._

Brooke had gotten into trouble for it, but she had told her, that it was more than worth it, to have seen him cry and that she'd do it always for her best friend and the people she loved.

Was that it, was Haley, Brooke's new best friend? Had she lost out because she wanted Lucas, more than Brooke had wanted him, if it was, then she was deeply disappointed. Her and Brooke's motto of _Ho's over Bro's, _had never rang more true than it did at the prospect of actually losing one's best friend. She didn't hate Haley, for taking her place and she didn't hate Brooke, for giving someone else her spot as best friend. It was her own fault, but maybe it could be like it had been before, but with a minor difference of there being her, Brooke and Haley instead of just her and Brooke.

Her thoughts were getting her no where. She needed air. Getting up off of her bed, she grabbed her car keys off of the night stand beside her and headed out.

**xxxx**

Driving down the road, with the top down and the wind blowing in her hair, was an old cliché, but Peyton never felt freer than when she was driving, nothing could touch her. Her thoughts were left outside the car door when she got into the driving seat and she just drove, drove to where the car took her. The car took her, she didn't take the car, it took her places she had never seen before. Sometimes she drove to forget, and that was what she was doing now, forgetting. Or trying to anyway. Tonight driving didn't seem to be doing much for her, and she hated that, because that meant the problem was big and it was. She just couldn't get over the fact that Haley was _hurt_, it sent an underscribable feeling through her. Haley had been helpless and she wanted to help in anyway she could, but to Peyton, she felt like she was sticking out like a sore thumb. She never thought the day would come when Brooke, had a handle on the situation more than she did. Not that Brooke was useless at it, she just panicked. A lot. Now it was her turn.

She wasn't panicking though, she was more in a daze of sorts, struggling to straighten her mind out, of the entanglement she found it to be in. Feeling the car pull to a stop, she took in her surroundings with a sigh. This was not going to end well. Almost against her will, she got out of her car, walked to the door and was knocking on it.

"Peyton?"

"Hey Mrs. Scott, I was wondering if Nathan was in?"

"He's in his room, do you want me to go get him for you?" Deb asked her.

"If it's ok with you, can I just go up and see him? It won't be long, I just need to tell him something. So can I?" Peyton wondered.

"Sure, you know where his room is, just go on up." Deb answered, as she stood aside letting Peyton in.

"Thanks." Peyton thanked her with a smile, making her way up the stairs and to Nathan's room.

As she got closer to Nathan's bedroom, she could hear music, and not the good kind either. Pushing his door open, she saw him lying on his bed, not paying attention, looking towards the ceiling. Walking over to his stereo, she hit the power button and the whole room was in silence.

"What the -" Nathan muttered as he jerked up. "Peyton?"

"How could you do that?" she asked him.

"Do what?" he wondered.

"Cut the BS Nate, you and I both know what the hell I'm talking about." she replied, her tone angry.

"Ah," he began with a sigh. "So I'm guessing Brooke told you huh?"

"Well yeah, kinda wanted to know what the hell was going on, after seeing the state of Haley."

"You've seen her? Is she..."

"No! No, you don't get the luxury of know how the hell she is, not after what you did, you asshole." Peyton raged at him. "You know I've disliked a lot of people before Nathan, but I've never hated someone before. Congratulations, you're the first."

"Peyton..."

"Don't Peyton me," she interrupted him again. "I have more respect for a rabid dog, than I do for you. That's always been your problem Nathan, you can't get what you want, so you act out. You're pitiful." Peyton degraded him.

"Do you want me to hit you to, cause I will!" Nathan raged, at her words.

"Oh try it Nate, take your best shot, cause I won't hesitate in telling _every_ single person about what you did. So do it, I dare you." Peyton goaded him. "Come on!" she shouted.

Charging off of his bed, he grabbed a hold of her t-shirt, and pushed her forward, until her back was against one of his walls and raised his fist, that was covered in a cast.

"Come on Nate, do it, do it, do it!" Peyton repeated over and over, almost like a martyr.

Sneering at her he lowered his fist. "You're not worth it!"

Not knowing what possessed her, Peyton's fist was flying up through the air, and caught Nathan's jaw, round about the same place where the basketball Brooke had flung at him had hit, and then pushed him with all she could to the floor.

"You sicken me, I can't believe we _ever _dated, that I ever felt for you. You're scum Nathan, scum! Your dad is a _saint_ compared to you." she informed him. "I really hope karma hits you ten fold and bites you on the ass." Peyton spat at him, contempt lacing her voice, but surprisingly she felt better, than she had. "If you think me and Brooke were bad enough, just wait till Lucas finds out," she told him with a smirk. "You're life won't be worth living, and when he finds you and he will, I'll be watching and I'm pretty sure both Brooke and especially Haley, will be to, and it'll be nothing you don't deserve." Peyton told him, walking out of his bedroom leaving him lying on the floor.

**xxxx**

Pulling up to the James house for the second time that day, Peyton shut off her engine and got out of her car and walked up the to the front of the house, only this time instead of barging in like last time, she knocked and waited for an answer.

"Can I help you?"

"Taylor right?" Peyton asked.

"Yeah, do I know you?" she asked.

"Nah, Brooke mentioned you at school today, said you were looking after Haley." Peyton explained.

"Oh you're a friend of there's, well Haley uh..." Taylor trailed off trying to think of an excuse.

"You don't need to make something up, I came by earlier and saw what had happened to Haley, I can't believe what that dick did to her." she told Taylor.

"You knew him?"

"Dated him."

"Oh, all these twists and turns, it's like a tv movie." Taylor joked. "Come on in."

Stepping inside, Peyton already knew she like Taylor, she seemed like the sort of girl that she could get along with. "Where are they?"

"Last time I checked, they were talking in my bedroom."

"You're bedroom?" Peyton questioned.

"He hurt her in her own bedroom, she feels kinda weird going in their." Taylor elaborated.

"Well, that's totally understandable. Can I go up?" Peyton wondered.

"They're you friends, I don't think I can stop you either way, not that I would want to anyway." Taylor told her with a smile.

"Thanks." she replied, heading up stairs, along the hallway, till she got to the door of the room, of where both Brooke and Haley were. Pushing the door open, she was surprised to find them sleeping, whether it be a nap or full on sleeping. What go her attention the most was how Haley was cuddled up to Brooke, catlike, leg tangled together, Haley's arm across Brooke's midsection, and her head on top of Brooke's shoulder. In the amount of times herself and Brooke had shared a bed, they had never, not once, ended up like that. Was there something going on here, that she didn't know about?

With a frown on her face, Peyton turned around and headed back downstairs, and as she was coming down them, she saw Taylor look up at her.

"What's up?"

"They were sleeping."

"Ah." Taylor replied, in understanding.

"Ah, what do you mean ah?" Peyton asked her.

"I know why you have that look on your face." Taylor explained.

"Care to explain?"

"You got up to the room, they were sleeping, asleep like they always are whenever they're around each other, together." Taylor enlightened her.

"They're always like that? Together-y?"

"Why, does that make you uncomfortable?"

"No. No, it doesn't, I just didn't think Brooke was like that, I guess it's kinda obvious now, her being like that with Nathan and being all cold towards him. I wish Brooke had told me that they were together." Peyton said, causing Taylor to laugh.

"Oh they're not together, hell knows why though, stubborn I guess. But no, the actual togetherness, is not happening." she explained. "I'm trying to work on that part, but it's proving to be troublesome."

"Need some help?" Peyton asked with a smirk.

"I'd love some." Taylor told her gladly. "Who's Nathan?"

"The ex, on both our accounts, he was the one who did this to her." Peyton explained.

"Nathan who?"

"Scott, Nathan Scott."

Taylor didn't know why that name sounded so familiar, but it was. Did she know him, why did it seem his name was flashing in front of her, like a bright neon sign. How did she know Nathan Scott?

**End of Chapter 8.**

**So there you have it folks, what did you guys think? Love it...hate it...kinda in between? Let me know, you know where the review box is right? You can use it yanno, it ain't there to look pretty D, so be kind, rewind...no that taking a video back...be kind, leave a review! That's it!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer - **So yeah I don't own anything...not even a shiny nickle! I'm poor! Weeps But if I can be serious for a moment...moment over, I own nothing, zilch, nought, zero! It sucks being me, don't it!

**A/N - **I'm back! Run for you lives! Sorry I haven't updated in a while, and kept all you nice people waiting, but yanno exams and stuff, can we get a resounding blech? BLECH! Yeah exams suck and I hate them, but as I've said **I'M BACK, **with a brand, spanking new chapter. I think you're gonna _really _like it. Maybe, maybe not. But the chapter title give you a HUGE clue! So on with the chapter huh? Read on...

**Chapter 9 - Sweet Nothing's Fall On Deaf Ears, But Sweet Kisses Have You Falling Into Arm's So Secure**

Minutes had turned into hours, which turned into day's and before long, a week had past. It had been a relatively uneventful week, with the majority of the most strenuous task's, being nothing more than lounging about in front of the television. Taylor had informed the school, that Haley had caught the flu during the week and wouldn't be attending school. It was a cover story, but it had worked out well, seeing as that, half the school was already off suffering from it. Brooke had used it to her advantage as well and had spent the entire week with Haley and Taylor. It wasn't like her parent's had noticed that she was gone, they were too busy with their high profile lives, to remember that they had a daughter, let alone that they actually had to care about her as well. A cheque, left on top of the kitchen counter, was there only recognition that she existed.

Brooke had been raised, mostly by nanny's from a young age. They saw her take her first step, heard her say her first word, watched her grow and learn what the world was. If it weren't for them, Brooke was certain that she would have grown into a spoilt rich-bitch, where love meant money, clothes, car's, and status. Like they did to her mother and father. Sure they were still important to her, she loved her Gucci, but it wasn't like she craved the most expensive car, she was quite happy with her Blue Bug. Being raised be her parent's would have lost her, her chance of knowing Haley, because she _knew_ being brought up by them would have taught her not to mix with the common people. So in a way she was thankful to them, that they had the incompetence of actually raising a child by themselves, and needed help.

Brooke would be lying if she said she hadn't become accustomed to the James's way of living. It was easy to fall into a routine, when you were around them, it was something she had been missing in her own home life, and that she caught a glimpse of when she was around Peyton and her dad, but when she was around Haley, she made her feel like she belonged there and more than ever that's all she wanted.

Right at this moment she was lazily laying on Haley's bed, it was sometime in the afternoon and she had woken up about half an hour ago, the after-effects of a late night movie marathon she had, had with Haley, Taylor and Peyton. Haley and herself had crawled into bed sometime towards four in the morning, leaving Peyton and Taylor watching some 50's black and white horror film. Earlier she had heard the rustling of people downstairs, and then the voice's along with laughter had finally pulled her out of her sleep. Brooke had intended to get up and go down, but laying in Haley's bed alone, with nothing but her scent was to tempting an offer to pass up. So she had stayed where she was until now. That was until the smell of pancakes and waffles, wafted out of the kitchen and upstairs to where she was and the instant the smell had hit her, her stomach grumbled in agreement.

Flinging back the cover's, Brooke got out of bed and started walking downstairs. Getting to the bottom of the stairs, she reached up and ran a hand through her hair, trying to salvage what little she could before claming defeat to the horror that was bed-head. Making her way to the kitchen, she noticed Peyton still out for the count on the sofa, if she was still asleep, she and Taylor must have stayed up way longer, after her and Haley had went to bed. Smiling at her semi-best friend, she continued to the kitchen where she found the object of her secret affection, looking oh, so charmingly sweet.

"Well, would you look at you," Brooke remarked huskily, her voice still full asleep, the comment causing Haley to jump and drop the bowl she had in her hand on to the counter. "Aren't you just the Suzy homemaker of the family?"

Laughing at Brooke's words, Haley looked over her shoulder and smiled at her, while picking up the bowl again and started to mix. "Oh, I wouldn't call me that. All I'm doing is making some breakfast."

"Which smells amazing by the way, I could get used to waking up to this on a weekend." Brooke told her with a smile, breathing in the smell of the already made pancakes.

"All you gotta do is stay over every weekend and I'll be sure to make you them anytime you want."

"Is that a promise? Cause I'd be so willing to do that." Brooke gladly agreed.

"Anytime you want to Tigger, you don't need an invitation to stay over here." Haley told her.

"Oh, you are so gonna live to regret that Roo, you're gonna have a hard time getting rid of me."

"Who said I want to get rid of you?" Haley remarked coyly, while walking over to the frying pan and pouring the batter in.

"Nobody ever wants to get rid of me, I just leave when I get bored." Brooke replied with a smirk.

"Does that mean you're leaving here?"

"Hell no! This place is my perfection, it's got you, yummy food, great company, mainly you, everything that makes me happy and did I mention you?"

"Once or twice." Haley answered happily, while picking up a plate. "Want one?"

"Yes, please," Brooke replied, eagerly reaching for both a pancake and a waffle, then for the syrup, covering them with it, and then ate them.

"What's the verdict?" Haley wondered.

"De-freackin'-licious." Brooke commented, causing Haley to smile. "Where's Taylor?"

"Out getting some things she needs, I swear that girl is like a duracell bunny, she just keeps on going and going. She told me she went to bed at around six this morning and then got up at eight."

"Damn." Brooke exclaimed, then sniggered as she looked fully at Haley's face. "Uh, Roo you kinda have a little something on your cheek."

"I do?" Haley wondered, reaching up to wipe it off, only making Brooke laugh some more as she wiped the wrong cheek.

"No, here let me get it." Brooke told her with a giggle as she got up off of the stool she had sat down on, and walked to where Haley stood. Lifting her hand up, she wiped away the stray batter that had made it's way onto her face. "There you go. You know, you heal up well." she commented.

"I do?" Haley unknowingly repeated her earlier question.

"Yup, your bruises are almost gone and your lip is hardly even noticeable any more." Brooke explained, running her hand over where the bruises used to be, down to Haley's lip, where she ran her thumb back and forth across it almost soothingly. "I guess the only thing you would really notice anymore would be the cut on your arm, and that would _only_ be if you were really looking for it." she told Haley, taking her arm in her other hand, bringing Haley closer to her, then she looked up at her. There eyes met and it was like polar magnets, refusing to let them tare there gaze away from each other.

They say moments of importance, have a big built up and every moment before it, is crucial to the end result, and yet at this moment, the opposite had _never_ been truer. Their had been no orchestration to set these actions into motion, it was just Brooke, Haley and pancake batter. It was like an equation, Pancake batter Brooke + Haley. Brooke who was currently cupping Haley's face with her hand, and leaning in unbelievably slowly, and Haley who had realised what Brooke was planning on doing. Upon realising it, her breath caught and she was finding it incredibly hard to breath. Not being able to take it any longer, Haley moved forward and closed her eyes just a second before her lips fused together with Brooke's.

A kiss.

Who knew that sparks actually flew when two people experienced there first kiss, wasn't that just stuff fairytales and romance was made up of? It certainly seemed to be the case for both Brooke and Haley, each of them were pretty sure they could here mini explosions going off in the background and behind both their eyes, all the colors that existed seemed to form and mix into another, in there state of mind, it could even rival the 4th of July fireworks.

Brooke's head was spinning, seriously spinning. She had kissed a lot of people before and it had been nice. This kiss with Haley blew nice, clear out of the water. To Brooke, kissing Haley was simply mind blowing. She heard a moan escape, but from who she could not tell. _'This is even more de-freakin'-licious, way, way better than waffles and pancakes. If Haley could wake me up like this every weekend, no everyday then yeah, I would be on happy girl.'_

Haley herself was desperate for breath, but pushed the need for it back. The kiss was making her knee's go weak, and just as she thought she was going to slump to the floor, she felt Brooke's arm snake around her back, pulling her closer to her, as close as literally possible, which caused her to let out an audibly moan. This was incredible, more than incredible really, the feeling of her body against Brooke's own body, was like nothing she had ever felt before. _'Why did I wait this long?'_ Waiting this long was a gross lapse in judgement, because there was no possible way, she would _not_ want to feel like this.

Finally unable to suffer the lack of oxygen anymore, both Brooke and Haley simultaneously pulled back, panting. Both lips were red and swollen, hungry for another taste, just a little bit more.

"Uh...yeah..." Brooke stuttered.

"Yeah...yup..." Haley stuttered along with her, nodding her head.

"So," Brooke breathed out. "Not to sound cliché or anything, but we've never done _that_ before."

"No, no we really haven't." Haley agreed. "I shouldn't have leaned in and kissed you. It's my fault, I'm so sorry Brooke, please don't hate me," she continued, in a babbling world of her own.

"Haley..." Brooke spoke, as she tried to interrupt, but was ignored.

"You're like my best friend now, I couldn't lose you. I'll call it momentary insanity, I won't bring it up again," Haley continued to babble.

"Haley..." Brooke tried again, only to have the same result.

"I'm sorry, I really am. It was a mistake right? Yeah a mistake..." Haley started off again, only to be cut off by Brooke's lips on her own once again for a brief moment.

"I'm pretty sure Roo, you weren't the only one doing the kissing, as a matter of fact, I do believe I was kissing you back, right?" Brooke pointed out, resting her head against Haley's.

"Yeah." Haley replied hesitantly.

"Then why would I _ever_ hate you, when all I've wanted to do, for the past week, was kiss you, every time I was with you? Believe me, that kiss wasn't a bad thing, not to me. Was it to you?"

"God no," Haley answered without the slightest bit of hesitation. "I never knew anything could feel as good as it did when we were kissing."

"Then relax Roo," Brooke told her with a charming smile, it felt good to have Haley in her arms. "Cause things are most definitely looking up."

"They are, aren't they?" Haley agreed with a small smile of her own. "Yanno," she began coyly, almost in a un-Haley like fashion. "Getting shut up that way, really wasn't the worst way, infact I really didn't have time to fully register it."

"Unlike the first time?" Brooke questioned, with a teasing smile.

"Yeah, unlike the first time," Haley agreed again. "Cause really you caught me off guard, complete surprise really."

"Well then, I guess just in the sake of fairness, I'm just going to have to repeat it as long as I have to, until it does fully register it, won't I?"

"Yeah, you really will have to," Haley told her with a wide smile. "But I can't promise you I'll adapt to it straight away, I mean we're gonna have to do this over and over till we get it right. Are you up for it?"

"Like you wouldn't believe," Brooke answered eagerly. "Shall we start?" she finished with a mischievous smile, there was no doubt in her mind, that she wasn't _not_ going to enjoy this to the fullest.

"Oh yeah," Haley replied softly, her breath hitching in anticipation, leaning into Brooke again and joining there lips together in another kiss.

**xxxx **

The day had progressed slowly, much to the joy of Haley and Brooke, they had spent almost every spare minute they had together, which really wasn't that unusual but instead of being careful that they didn't let anything slip about there feelings towards the other, they were relaxed and on the verge of content, and currently in Haley's bedroom, in her bed, enjoying Brooke's company. _Really_ enjoying Brooke's company.

Peyton flipped her phone shut, she had made plans to meet with Luke today, a few days ago, but he had to cancel due to an impromptu basketball practice. The woe's of dating one of the school's star basketball player's. In a way she was kinda glad, not that she didn't want to spend time with Lucas, just that she got to hang out with Brooke, Haley and Taylor. She had really enjoyed this weekend, it was fun. She had missed her best friend more than she had first realised. She swore to herself, that there was never going to be another time where she chose a boy over Brooke again. That thought made her laugh silently to herself, the whole _'Ho's over Bro's'_ motto really didn't apply anymore, not with Brooke having a thing for Haley. It really was obvious, as obvious as a ten foot spotty elephant in the room. Her and Taylor really needed to get them both together.

Speaking of Taylor she saw her sitting on a stool in the kitchen, munching on a waffle.

"Isn't that like stale?" Peyton asked her with a hint of distaste.

"Nuh uh," was Taylor's mumbled reply. "It's actually really good. If my sister can do one thing, it's cook and damn are these good." she told Peyton a minute later, after finishing off the second of her three waffles. "Try one."

"Are you sure?"

"Don't be a wuss! They're good, why in the hell would I be eating them otherwise?" Taylor wondered.

"Well there is the little fact that, you are a bit weird. Then I heard all these rumours that you aren't all together there, so I'm cautious around you." Peyton joked.

"You're just delaying the inevitable," Taylor pointed out, getting up off of the stool, walking over to the cupboard and pulling out a plate, which she sat in front of Peyton. "I swear on you music collection that you are gonna _love_ this," she continued, picking up a waffle and a pancake off of where they sat. "But the secret ingredient are these," she told Peyton, pulling out a jar of syrup and then picking up the sugar container, putting them down next to the food, when she walked back over by Peyton. "The secret is, lots and lots of syrup, and a small amount of sugar." Which Taylor proceeded to put onto both pancake and waffle. "Here." she offered Peyton, once she finished.

Taking it hesitantly, Peyton took her first bite and her eyes closed in utter pleasure, Taylor hadn't been lying, it was good. Better than good. The moan that escaped her was evidence enough. Finally finishing it, she smiled over at Taylor, who was smile in much the same way. "You were _so_ right."

"I'm always right," Taylor replied cockily.

"How did you figure that they both tasted so good together?" Peyton wondered.

"I like to experiment, syrup and sugar are great together, syrup and chocolate sauce, not so much." Taylor explained.

"I will never doubt you again."

"I feel so privileged." she replied cheekily, causing Peyton to laugh.

"So Tay, tell me how are we going to get those two crazy kids together?"

"Well Pey," Taylor started with a smile, using her nickname for Peyton. "I say we both take one and like set up times to meet them at places like the cinema, a romantic restaurant, coffee shops, place like that. Then instead of us turning up we _conveniently _can't make it and they _conveniently _meet and decide to join each other. How does that sound?" she wondered.

"I think that," Peyton dawdled out. "Sounds like a damn good plan." Peyton finished with a smile.

"So it's a deal?" Taylor asked.

"It's a deal." Peyton agreed.

"You know, deals are usually sealed with something." Taylor pointed out with a grin.

"Oh they are, are they?" Peyton questioned.

"Most certainly, what do you say partner, wanna seal the deal?" Taylor asked, wiggling her eyebrows suggestively.

"Depends, what did you have in mind?" Peyton pondered, with raised eyebrows of her own.

"Let's shake on it _of course_!" Taylor explained with a devilish smirk, putting out her hand.

"Shaking on it, got it." Peyton replied, clasping her hand with Taylor's and they shook on it.

**xxxx **

"We should probably head downstairs, don't you think so?" Brooke wondered, running her fingers lazily through Haley's hair.

"Going downstairs, would mean letting the real world in wouldn't it?" Haley asked her.

"Yeah baby, it would." Brooke replied honestly.

"Then I vote that we stay here, always." Haley concluded, then smiled as Brooke's words registered.

"What?" Brooke asked, with a smile of her own, noticing Haley's smile.

"You called me baby." Haley explained, her smile getting bigger.

"Well yeah, cause you are, you're my baby."

"I am?"

"Yeah, you're my baby, my sweetie, my honey, my munchkin." Brooke finished with a laugh, which Haley mimicked.

"Well you're my angel, you have been since that day on the docks." Haley told her, sweetly, leaning up and capturing her lips with her own.

"You know, I never get tired of doing that Roo," Brooke told her, once the kiss had finished. "It's my new favourite thing. If it was an olympic category, I would so get the gold in Haley-kissage. Then probably sliver and bronze as well, cause there's no way in hell I'm letting anyone else kiss you. Never gonna happen."

"That goes both ways Tigger."

"Come on," Brooke sighed, getting up off of the bed, reaching for Haley's hand. "We gotta make an appearance sometime today, and seeing as it's like almost three in the afternoon, they're probably missing our fabulous company." Brooke told her with a silly grin, pulling Haley up and into her. "Plus, if we go down now, the quicker we can come back up."

"I like your way of thinking." Haley pointed out. "But before we go, let me just do this one more time." she said, leaning further into Brooke, once again bringing there lips together. As Haley felt Brooke instantly respond, she smiled into the kiss, she had found heaven and she loved it. Deciding to tease Brooke just a little, Haley opened her mouth slightly and ran her tongue along Brooke's bottom lip wanting access, which was instantly granted. There tongue's danced with each other, anticipating each other's movement and it like a perfect harmony. Hearing Brooke moan, Haley smiled to herself and pulled back, which proved a lot harder then it first seemed, cause all she wanted to do was kiss Brooke into exhaustion.

"So downstairs huh?"

"Huh?" Brooke asked disorientated, she was enjoying that to much, to pay attention to anything.

"Let's go downstairs, like you wanted to." Haley told her heading to the door.

"You know, suddenly I'm not so sure that was a bright idea, don't listen to me," Brooke said, trying to think of an excuse, grabbing onto Haley's arm and pulling her to her. "Yeah let's just stay here ok?" Brooke asked hopefully.

"Tigger," Haley started with a smile. "Remember what you said, the quicker we get down there, the quicker we get back up here, right?"

"Yeah, we don't need to stay down there long, five minutes is enough right?"

"Oh I think maybe half an hour at the most." Haley reasoned. "Let's go."

"Uh baby, before you go, you probably wanna sort your lipstick, it's smeared." Brooke pointed out.

"But I'm not wearing any."

"You know I'm not either, but I could have swore I was." Brooke told her with a laugh.

"Get downstairs and I'll be down soon." Haley told her with a giggle.

**xxxx **

"Guy's do you wanna go to a movie tonight?" Taylor asked a while later, sending a secret smile over to Peyton. Plan A initiated.

"I'm in, what about you two?" Peyton agreed, going along with Taylor.

"What do you say Hales, ready to face the big, kinda bad world?" Brooke asked her.

"I'm not sure, I mean I still have some bruising on my face, what if someone notices?" Haley replied.

"Concealer," was Brooke's instant reply. "Put that on over your bruises and nobody but us will be none the wiser, if there's one thing I'm good at it's putting make-up one." Brooke told her with a smile, then seeing the smirk on Peyton's face, she turn to her with a look that silently said _'Don't even go their Sawyer.' _

"So are you in Haley-Bub?" Taylor asked her sister.

"If Brooke can work her magic on me, then sure I'm in." Haley relented.

"Hales, I thought by _now_ you'd at least know how well I work my _magic."_ Brooke responded playfully.

"I guess I must be still learning. You still have a _lot_ to teach me, don't you?"

"I really do."

"So that's a yes to the whole movie thing tonight?" Taylor asked, and received a resounding nod from all of them. "Cool, me and Pey have something to pick up, but we'll meet you two in the front of the movie theatre and we can pick what we want to see then. Is that cool?"

"Yeah it's cool Tay, in front of the movie theatre. Time?" Haley questioned.

"Seeing how it's five just now, how about seven?" Taylor suggested.

"That works for us, it's a date." Brooke told them.

_'More than you know.'_ Peyton thought silently to herself. "So you and I should get going, if we want to pick that thing up right?" she said, directing her question to Taylor.

"Yeah you're right, let's go." Taylor replied, standing up, putting her arm through Peyton's and pulling her out the door. "See you there guys." she yelled over her shoulder to her sister and Brooke.

Once outside, they both slowed their pace.

"So where do you wanna go all night, we have at least a good 4 hours to kill?" Taylor asked her partner in crime.

"Um mini golf?" Peyton blurted out the first thing that came to mind.

"Mini golf?" Taylor began with distaste. "Actually that sounds pretty cool. Where?"

Giving Taylor a smile, Peyton answered, while pulling Taylor to her car. "I know this great little café, where you can play for free."

Meanwhile back in the James's house.

"Whatever shall we do till seven Tigger?" Haley asked with a sly smile.

"Oh I don't know, read, watch some tv? Those sound appealing don't they?" Brooke wondered with a smile of her own.

"I had a better idea, but hey if that's what you want to do then that's what we'll do."

"Well now that you mention it baby, I do have a way _better_ idea," Brooke back tracked, walking closer to Haley and leaned in. "I think you'll enjoy it, just as much as me." she continued her breath hitting off of Haley's ear. "Last one upstairs, is a rotten potato!" she suddenly exclaimed, pulled away from Haley and started running to the stairs, with Haley close behind her.

"Egg, Tigger, egg!" Haley's voice echoed throughout the empty living room as both Haley and Brooke entered her bedroom, there laughter filling it.

**xxxx**

"Well we wouldn't have been late if you hadn't distracted me!" Haley accused.

"_Me_ distract _you_? I think you have that the wrong way around sweetie, I'm pretty sure you were the one kissing me, which in turn distracted me from getting changed, which then lead us to being late!" Brooke re-accused.

"That's neither here, nor there Brooke, the fact of the matter is that we're late!"

"Yeah but it was worth it," Brooke told her, smiling as she remembered the reason why they were both currently running late. Their was nothing quite like an almost two hour make out session, nothing at all.

"Yup it was, plus it looks like we're the first one's here, so really it doesn't matter right?"

"Not one bit..." The ringing of her mobile, cut her sentence short. Lifting up her purse, Brooke rummaged around in it for a minute, before triumphantly pulling it out. "Brooke Davis." she stated. "What do you mean you guys can't make it? It was your idea!" she remarked incredulously. "Fine then, I guess we'll see you when we get home." she told Peyton, with a sigh. "Bye." Brooke finished, clicking her phone shut. "Look's like it's just us Roo," Brooke told Haley, kind of disappointed that the other to weren't coming, then a smile lit up her face as she registered her own words. "Just us, that has promise." she remarked happily.

"Yeah it does," Haley replied with a giggle.

"Let's go see a crappy movie, that hardly _anyone_ is gonna go see!" Brooke said enthusiastically.

"Are you sure?" Haley asked, jokingly.

"Only a hundred percent!"

"Well let's go." Haley told her, clasping there hands together and walking into the movie theatre.

"This is going to be fun." was Brooke's parting words as they both got lost in the crowd of people.

**So as you've gathered, this chapter was soley kissage and fluffage! So hopefully you haven't a died from the sickly sweetness of the chapter! What did you think? Was it good? Have I lost my niche in life? Review and let me know! D I'm crazy I know! **


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer - **Don't own anything to do with One Tree Hill, not that I'd want to with where it's heading Season 2 wise, I mean not even having Haley in last nights episode? What in the hell is up with that?

**A/N - **Thanks for reviewing last chapter, glad you all like it. Here's more

**Chapter 10 - Sex, Lies and Video Tapes, Minus the Sex and the Video Tapes**

Brooke and Peyton were lounging about Brooke's living-room, they were the only two in the house. Which didn't really surprise Brooke all that much, she had come to expect that her parent's only stopped by if they needed a document or something more important, because heaven forbid that they thought gracing their daughter with a visit was important. Not that she was complaining, it saved all three of them from having another shouting match, because that was all they ever seemed to do, when they were around each other. Brooke supposed it was her parents form of some wacky parenting. Was that the only way they could communicate with there daughter? Brooke didn't know and she really didn't care, so long as they didn't turn round one day and expect that she actually had to care about them, because that was _not_ going to happen.

Flinging down the magazine she was reading, onto the table in front of her, Peyton sat up a bit on the chair and looked over at Brooke.

"Enough with the magazines, I'm bored." Peyton told her.

"Whatever you say, oh high and mighty ruler." Brooke joked.

"What are you on Brookie?"

"Uh, I do believe it's a chair, a comfy chair at that." Brooke replied.

"You're weird." Peyton stated.

"Hey! I learned weird from you Pey, if I remember rightly, I was such a sweet, sane girl, before I met you."

"You sweet? Only when you want something." Peyton told her with a laugh which Brooke mirrored a second later. "So how was the movie? What did you guys go see?" she asked Brooke changing the subject.

"It was some film, Pitch Perfect or Perfect Pitch. It was a movie. We watched, we mocked and we left." Brooke explained, not exactly telling the truth. They had gone and seen some film, what it was called eluded Brooke, they did mock, for all of five minutes before things started getting interesting between herself and Haley.

"Oh, so it wasn't fun?" Peyton asked, sounding disappointed.

"Oh, no it was fun. Hales is always fun to hang around with." Brooke answered. _'It was definitely the most fun I've had at a movie in a long time. Granted it had nothing to do with the movie and everything to do with the company.' _"What was up with you and Tay not coming anyway?"

"Um..." Peyton stuttered as she started. Her and Taylor hadn't came up with an excuse as to why they weren't their yesterday. '_You'd think at least one of us would have had the foresight to have seen this question coming.' _"Taylor knows a guy who sells records. She took me up to his place so I could see what he had, then by the time we left, it was already seven, so we weren't gonna get back in time." Peyton finished with a smile, having thought up a perfect excuse. If there was one thing she and Brooke didn't have in common, it was there taste in music.

"P. Sawyer and her music collection." Brooke remarked, with a smile of her own.

"Was there popcorn?" Peyton asked, with glazed eyes.

"Pey, it was a movie theatre," Brooke started, looking at Peyton like she was from another world. "There's _always_ popcorn."

"I miss the popcorn." Peyton sulked, like the world had ended.

"Oh God, not the dreaded popcorn thing again!" Brooke exclaimed. "How long has it been Peyton, five, six months?" she asked, looking at her best friend. Then seeing how she wouldn't look at her, she gasped. "Peyton Sawyer, tell me you have not had popcorn!" Brooke demanded.

"It was a moment of weakness Brooke! There was a bag. It was open! I couldn't help myself! It was good!" Peyton defended, pouting.

"Was it a one time thing?"

"Yes." Peyton replied sadly. Popcorn was yummy. She just had a habit of eating it till she was sick. That was fine by her, but her friends seemed to think she had a problem and refused to let her have any. They were mean. "So how was the movie?" Peyton repeated her earlier question, changing the subject yet again, steering it away from her lie.

"You already asked that." Brooke pointed out.

"I know that," Peyton drew out. "_But_ I want to know everything. I'm nosy like that, don't you remember?"

"How could I forget?" Brooke asked rhetorically. "What do you want to know?"

"_Everything!_ But i'll start with, was the popcorn good?"

"Peyton!"

"Joking! God, I'm joking! Were there a lot of people there?"

"No, there was like Hales me and about five others." Brooke answered her question, which caused Peyton to frown.

"There was only five other people? I thought you would have went to a blockbuster or something."

"The tickets were all sold out to everything else, so I got tickets to the only one that had seats left." Brooke lied calmly.

"You're lying, I know you are. Oh my God! Brooke Davis did you find someone to hook up with and make-out throughout the movie!" Peyton accused.

"No! I did not _find _someone to hook up with, jeez Peyton!" Brooke answered a little to quickly for her own liking, and conveniently leaving out the part about the making out. _'Who knew that Tutor Girl could kiss that way? She fitted against me perfectly, and her hands, yeesh! I do feel for that usher, we must have given him quite the show, but oh how it was worth it. Oh God, am I blushing? I feel like I'm blushing. I do not blush! Damn, Pey's so gonna know something's up, but being with Haley was just 'wow', the best time ever.' _Brooke though with a slight blush as her mind drifted.

_The movie theatre was pitch black, except for the projection screen, which illuminated most of the theatre in a dim light. In the back row though, it was darkness, no matter how hard the light tried it just couldn't reach out that far, it gave into the shadows. Shadows that covered two figured, in a darkness that that they welcomed. It hid them from sight, and at this moment that was how they liked it. _

_"These previews are boring," Brooke commented, leaning closer to Haley._

_"It's an old movie Tigger, I think they're trying to keep with the atmosphere or something I guess." Haley told her, not entirely sure herself._

_"Some atmosphere, there's like seven people in totally, including us Roo." Brooke complained._

_"And that's a bad thing?" Haley questioned, almost coyly._

_"Suddenly not seeing anything bad about five other people, that are no where near us." Brooke told her with a mischievous smile. _

_"Brooke?" _

_"Yeah?"_

_"Not to sound impatient or anything here, but," Haley began, pausing as she looked at her watch. "We've been in here almost five, going on six minutes, right?_

_"Right?" Brooke answered, slightly confused._

_"Why aren't you kissing me yet?"_

_"Oh, I don't know? Momentary insanity?" Brooke told her, leaning over to Haley and bringing there lips together. _

It amazed Brooke how well her and Haley fit together, it was like Haley was the yin to her yang. They were meant to be together, she was sure of that. Kissing her was heaven, they way her lips felt on Haley's. Almost like silk on such soft skin, gently running over and over. What she wouldn't give to have this all her life. She could only hope that she would. Moving backwards slowly, Brooke brought Haley with her, until her own back was resting against the back of her seat. Breaking her lips away from Haley's she took in a deep breath, she always got light headed when she was around Haley, but kissing her, gave her a rush, that couldn't be matched by any drug.

_Taking in her new position, Haley smiled down at Brooke. She was on Brooke's lap, and no one could notice, because they were cloaked into darkness. Haley wasn't all that sure how she had made it from her seat and onto Brooke's lap, in such a short space of time. The last thing she remembered was Brooke's lips on her own, kissing her. But then again everytime she had kissed Brooke, and that had been plenty throughout the day, she always lost track of her surroundings, her actions. She just went with the flow, with the elixir that was Brooke Davis. _

_Everytime she saw Haley smile, it rooted Brooke to the spot she was in. This girl had more power over her than anyone she knew, it was crazy. But a good kind of crazy, Haley was her crazy girl. She was pinned to her seat, with Haley above her, who was infact doing the pinning._

_"Come here," she whispered to Haley, snaking her hand up and into Haley's hair, pulling her head down, so they were kissing again, softer this time. "God Hales, do you know how long I've wanted this?" Brooke whispered, breathlessly._

_"A while?" Haley guessed, just as breathlessly. _

_"Oh yeah," Brooke told her, leaning up and placing butterfly kisses on Haley's neck. "I think, the first time I realised it, was when I saw you hurt on your bed." she continued, cupping Haley's cheek and kissing her soundly on the lips. "But I'm pretty sure, it all began before that." Brooke told her huskily, when she pulled away. "God I love kissing you." she announced._

_"I'm not exactly hating it myself. Just don't stop." Haley stated, almost helplessly. The last thing she ever wanted was for Brooke to stop, it felt too good for her to stop. Swooping down, like an eagle who had found her prey, Haley attacked Brooke's lips again with gusto, moaning into the kiss. Opening her mouth slightly, Haley leaned into Brooke's mouth with her own and nibbled gently on her bottom lip eliciting a moan from Brooke, that was mostly audible to just herself. Jutting out her tongue, Haley gently ran it across Brooke's bottom lip, wanting access to her mouth. It was granted instantly, and in mere milliseconds there tongue's were together, almost in dancing fashion._

_Brooke's hands reached out and grabbed Haley by her hips, pulling her forward, making the space between them non-existent. Haley's hand's were by Brooke's face, holding it in place, while she kissed her, then slowly almost like a form of torture for Brooke, Haley's left hand travelled down from her face, onto her shoulder and down Brooke's arm, where there hands entwined for a moment or two, sending shock waves through both of them. Pulling her hand out of Brooke's, Haley's hand slowly travelled up._

_Breaking the kiss, both Brooke and Haley's ragged breathing echoed in both there ears. "You're beautiful." Haley whispered, tracing the lines of Brooke's face with her other hand, running her thumb across the outline of her swollen lips, and stopping on the bottom one, tugging it a little. "So beautiful." she whispered, more to herself than Brooke, before she reached down to taste them again. _

_Brooke was having a hard time concentrating on anything, let alone actually thinking a coherent thought. The way Haley was taking control of the situation was something she hadn't expected, but there was no way she was complaining, it felt great. Brooke's hand slowly moved up Haley's back and entangled into her hair once again, wanting her closer, while her other hand moved from Haley's hip, round until it reached her butt, slowly caressing it._

_"Brooke!" Haley gasped breathlessly, reaching her hand down again, to the hem of Brooke's t-shirt, lifting it slightly, and sliding her hand underneath, until her palm was resting flat against Brooke's stomach, causing Brooke to let out a loud moan at the sensations that Haley was causing her. _

_Slowly, Haley's hand inched up, until it rested under Brooke's breast, her thumb reached out and traced the outline of Brooke's bra._

_'Sweet torture.' was Brooke's only thought, filtering throughout her empty mind._

_"Heaven." Haley whispered huskily, making a move to reach her hand higher, when a light flashed in both there faces, bringing them back to reality._

_Looking over they took in the shocked face of the usher, his face was priceless. Slacked jaw and wide eyes._

_Sighing, they pulled apart and Haley got up off of Brooke. _

_"Uh...uh...I'm going to have to ask you both to leave." The boy gulped._

_Standing, Brooke took Haley's hand in her own and they walked out of the theatre._

"Brooke, why are you smiling like that?" Peyton wondered, pulling Brooke out of her daydream.

"Oh, um...just remembering the usher." Brooke answered her.

"Was he nice?"

"From what I could see, his face was a picture." Brooke told her, wanting to laugh at how funny his face actually had been.

Just as Peyton her mobile rang, interrupting there conversation.

**xxxx**

"What's up Haley-Bub?" Taylor asked, as she landed next to her sister on the sofa.

"Nothing, much Talyor-Bub." Haley told her.

"Ok, let's _never_ use that nickname _ever _again!" Taylor told her sister

"Yeah I was just thinking that. I'll stick with Tay." Haley told Taylor. "Oh my God!" she suddenly exclaimed.

"What? What is it?" Taylor questioned urgently wonder what was happening, jumping up from the sofa. "Are you hurt? Is it your arm? It's your arm isn't it? We need to go to the hospital, come on."

"No Taylor, I'm fine!" Haley told her with a laugh, she should have known her big sister was going go into overprotective mode.

"Good." Taylor told her with a sigh. Then reached her arm out and smacked Haley lightly on her head.

"Damn it Tay, what was that for?"

"For scaring me lil' sis! Yeesh, it's my job to protect you ok?" Taylor explained.

"I'm sorry."

"It's cool, just don't be doing it again." Taylor told her, sitting back down next to Haley again, flinging her arm around Haley's shoulder's. "But really, why the '_Oh my God' _thing?"

"You're here," Haley began with a smile. "And Peyton is no where in the vicinity, how rare is that?" she finished rhetorically.

"That resulted in an _'Oh my God' _which in the process cause me to have a mini freak out?" Taylor asked deadpanned.

"Uh huh."

"Hay, just be glad you're my sister and that I love you, because if you were anyone else, I would so be smacking them." Taylor told her with a smile, letting Haley know she was joking. "And Hey! It's not like you're ever five feet away from your dear Brookie, so don't go telling me, that it's unusual to see me without Peyton. That's just a case of calling the kettle black."

"So what, you're not seeing Peyton today?" Haley questioned.

"I'm not saying that, in fact I just called her and she and Brooke are coming over. They should be here in a little bit."

"Brooke's coming here?" Haley asked, perking up.

"Yeah. What missing your honey?" Taylor asked, only to receive a glare from Haley.

"Why are you missing yours? I mean it is starting to make more sense. You and Peyton conveniently not turning up at the movies, always together. Taylor, is there something you're not telling me?"

"Me and Peyton are friends, nothing more, nothing less." Taylor told her. "But you and Brooke on the other..." she began but was cut off as Peyton and Brooke, came bursting into the house.

"Hello girlies, how much have you missed us?" Brooke bellowed out, with a smile, that only got bigger, when she saw Haley smiling at her.

"Not all that much Davis, I could've gone another minute without seeing you, _but_ seeing as you're here, I realise that yes, I really did miss you and your blonde curly friend." Taylor remarked, jokingly.

"Man Tutor Girl, she babbles more than you do!" Brooke stated. "Family trait?"

"Nah Brooke, they've both just been around you too much." Peyton told her friend, causing the other two to laugh.

"Yanno Peyton, that isn't such a far fetched idea." Taylor reasoned. "I mean there's only so much you can take of Brooke in close quarters, how do you do it Haley-Bub?"

"I've grown an immunity to it. At first it was touch and go, but I pulled through and it no longer affects me. Give it time Tay, I'm sure it'll pass. But poor Brookie is stuck with it for life." Haley joked.

"Ok, two minutes in the door and it's already gang up on Brooke day?" Brooke said with a pout. "Maybe I should just leave."

"You know we're joking Tigger. Anyway aren't you guys here real quick?" Haley wondered.

"I made the mistake of letting Peyton drive. The should rename her speed racer." Brooke explained, walking further into the room.

"Come on Brooke I wasn't that bad right?"

"Right, you were worse. My hands are still sore from gripping onto the dashboard." Brooke complained.

"Did you traumatise here Pey?" Taylor asked with a grin.

"Maybe a little." Peyton answered with her own grin. "Come on, I have to talk to you about those records that guy was selling." she continued, walking over to Taylor, pulling her up from the sofa, and taking her out of the room.

"Well I for one, thought they would never leave." Haley told Brooke, looking up at her with a smile.

"Alone at last." Brooke remarked, flopping down next to Haley. "How long do you think they'll be gone for?"

"They're talking about music right?"

"Right."

"I'd be for a while."

"Good." Brooke answered with a smile, leaning into Haley.

**xxxx**

"So did you ask her how it went?" Taylor asked eagerly.

"I did." Peyton replied.

"And?"

"They had a good time. Though I don't think anything magical happened." Peyton told her.

"Damn it! Ok Plan B...what's plan B Peyton?"

"Uh, a restaurant? We could go with then, and set one of our phones to go off at a certain time, use it as an excuse to leave, and leave them to have dinner all by there lonesome. But we _accidentally_ pick a romantic place."

"See Pey, that's why I'm not the only on in on this, I would have run out of plans after the first one. You're brainy for a cheerleader huh?"

"One cheerleader you obviously couldn't do without." Peyton rebutted.

"Retract the claws blondie, they're a hurting." Taylor joked with a smile.

"When do you wanna do it?" Peyton asked her, causing Taylor to raise an eyebrow.

"Well if that wasn't the most forwarded proposition I've ever heard. I'll have to check my dairy, but I'm sure I can pencil you in sometime."

"You're lewd."

"And you love it."

"It may surprise you Tay, but I do have a boyfriend. I don't secretly lust after you."

"Oh you wounded me Pey, right in the heart! It's breaking," Taylor told her, clutching her heart, then a snort of laughter escaped both of them. "Sorry to tell you this sweetcheeks, but you aren't exactly my type, women wise anyway."

"Now you've gone and wounded me Tay, it hurts! Right to the core!" Peyton exaggerated.

"You'll live, you're just gonna fake dying, so when I give you mouth to mouth you can kiss me. I'm not falling for it. I'm on to your plan."

"Ya got me! That was my fiendish plan all along."

"You know Brooke, I knew they had something going on. I mean the secret meetings, the whispers, the longing glances. It makes sense doesn't it?" Haley interrupted there verbal sparring.

"Now that you mention it Roo, I so see it. It all make so much sense, why didn't we spot this before?" Brooke wondered.

"You guys come on, there's nothing going on." Peyton stressed to them. "Nothing."

"Don't deny it Sawyer, it all out in the open now. There's no need to hide it. We accept you guys as a couple, don't we Roo?"

"Oh yeah, you have our support. We're totally behind you." Haley agreed with a smile, that held back her laughter. Peyton looked so helpless in this situation, that both Haley and Brooke couldn't help but mess with her.

"Yeah baby," Taylor spoke up, moving behind Peyton circling her arms around Peyton's waist. "It's ok now, we don't have to hide it. This is what we wanted right?" she finished, smiling over a Brooke and Haley, with laughter in her eyes.

"Taylor!" Peyton exclaimed. "I seriously never thought you'd feel the same way."

"What..." Taylor stuttered, she was joking, this wasn't supposed to happen.

"I mean, sure I kinda hoped," Peyton continued, moving out of Taylor's arms and grabbing hold of her hands. "But I never for one second thought that you would feel the same way, I tried to not at first you know?" she asked rhetorically. "But you were always around and the more I saw you the more my defences went down. Let's face it, you're hot, you know it, _I_ know it, I've looked long enough to know it. You're everything I've wanted and never had, who knew I'd find in where I'd least expect it. But I'm not afraid, I swear I'll stand by you, for as long as you'll have me."

"Holy crap" Brooke whispered, shock all over her face.

"I'll say." Haley whisper back.

"Oh god Peyton, I'm sorry, I didn't think you'd fall for that. I think we all got a bit carried away, and things escalated to this. I'm sorry you took it the wrong way, but I was joking. I like you sure, as a friend." Taylor explained regretfully.

"A joke?" Peyton repeated, dropping Taylor's hands like she had been burned. "Oh God!" she whispered, to herself, reaching up and swiping her hand across her eyes.

"You're crying?" Taylor stated obviously, regretfully.

"A joke?" Peyton repeated, sounding heartbroken. "This was meant to be funny! It was by far the un-funniest thing I have ever experienced." she shouted.

"I'm sorry!" Taylor apologised. "I didn't know! We were all joking, they started it..." she trailed off as Peyton turned her back on her and faced Brooke and Haley.

"It's you're fault! Both of you! Do you know how hard that was for me to say? Then to find out that it was a joke!" Peyton bellowed.

"I'm sorry!"

"Yeah Peyton, I'm sorry as well."

"Sorry?" she spat. "Sorry?" a repeated again, bowing her head.

"Are you ok?" Taylor asked softly, reaching out and touching Peyton's shoulder, feeling it vibrate.

"Oh god your face! All three of them! Oh God, I wish I had a camera! Priceless!" Peyton exclaimed, doubling over with laughter.

"You bitch!" Taylor remarked, releasing a breath she didn't know she had been holding.

"You played us?" Haley wondered.

"Oh that was good Pey! I didn't know how long I'd be able to hold back the laughing! The tears almost had me." Brooke said with a laugh. "The Oscar ladies, goes to my friend Peyton Sawyer."

"You knew!" Haley accused, glaring at Brooke, then walking out of the kitchen.

"Haley!" Brooke called going after her.

"I have to say Sawyer, you had me."

"You face James was priceless. _'I didn't know!' _I got you good!" Peyton remarked happily.

"You did that. You're still a bitch though." Taylor told her with a smile.

"I take pride in that. So when are we setting plan B into action?" Peyton wondered.

"Well tomorrow's Monday, another school day for all you guys, so what Tuesday? Wednesday?"

"Tuesday. The restaurants are busier nearer the end of the week."

"Tuesday it is then." Taylor agreed, just before a door slamming upstairs could be heard.

"Haley, don't storm off!" Brooke yelled after her, sighing when she saw Haley disappear into her room, slamming her bedroom door shut.

Walking up to the door, she pushed it open, ready to grovel some more, when a pair of lips attacked her own.

"Took you long enough!" Haley remarked, moving backwards towards her bed, still attached to Brooke.

"But..." Brooke began, not really processing what was happening. Wasn't Haley mad at her?

"Got us away from them didn't it?"

"You're sneaky!" Brooke told her with a giggle, falling back onto the bed with Haley, waiting for tomorrow to come.

**End of Chapter Ten**

**So yeah there you go :) Hope you enjoyed it. Review.**


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer - **Again sadly I do not own anything remotely to do with One Tree Hill, not even the damn dvd's! But come July, oh I will! Just you watch Mark, just watch and wait to see me owning One Tree Hill...the dvd's of course!

**A/N - **Well guy's I'm really sorry for the wait, and the terrible job I've done of updating this as of late. My only excuse is, it's been the end of the school term and I've had exams. But come next Tuesday, I will sit my final one, and be free to write till my heart's content...or until July 22, when I go on holiday for a month. But can we just check out the number of reviews? Over a 100, people, and every single person that left one, **THANK YOU VERY, VERY MUCH! **I wish I could thank you in some other way, but I can't, but thank you all so much! And what a review for number 100, do I like neon signs? Well I didn't until last week, I my have to change my opinion on it now. Anyway, here's chapter 11, I hope you enjoy, and please always feel free to review.

**Chapter 11 - Return of the Nathan.**

Monday had rolled around again, starting off a new school week. Haley's first day back since her unfortunate meeting with Nathan, she just hoped to God, that she wasn't left alone with him. She had reached the conclusion, that no matter how hard she tried, it was inevitable that she was going to see him at some point throughout the day. Sure Tree Hill High was a relatively large school and you could go a few days without seeing the same person twice, but if they happened to run in the same group as you, it would be without fail that you saw them a good few times throughout the day, no matter how much you wanted to avoid them. So she was just going to have to suck it up and bare it, just so long as she didn't have to speak a word to him. But she guessed, constantly having Brooke or someone else at her side, would put Nathan off coming anywhere near her. She hoped anyway.

It was a bright, sunny day and there wasn't even a white cloud in the sky, she should be basking in the morning sunshine enjoying the feeling of the hot rays the sun was giving off, Haley thought to herself, not dreading stepping foot in the halls of her high school. She hated that Nathan still held some sort of power over her, that he still made her feel scared. She had been so caught up and focused on everything that was happening with her and Brooke, that she hadn't thought of Nathan all that much, which was a good thing, because she didn't want to think of him, and the way his hands felt when they were hitting her. Those thought were pushed all the way to the back of her mind, where they only resurfaced in her dreams, or should that be nightmares? Yeah, nightmares was the right word, after all, dreams were what your heart desired, and all the things Nathan had done to her, was really not something she ever desired to feel again.

So here she was standing in front of the main entrance of the school doors, where Taylor had dropped her off almost ten minutes earlier, and she had made plans to meet both Peyton and Brooke inside at her locker, all she had to do was move her feet in the direction of her locker. Walking seemed to be a problem though, no matter how hard she willed her body to move, it wasn't co-operating with her. Not in the slightest. She felt like she was a stone statue, looking over the school, just watching what was going on around her. Maybe she shouldn't have come back today. Maybe she should have just stayed at home, under her blanket, hiding from the rest of the world, in a world of her own, that only consisted of Brooke. But if she did that wouldn't that just give Nathan more power over her? Proving that she couldn't get over what he had done to her. She wasn't going to let him think that.

A hand on her shoulder brought her out of her thoughts and without thinking, she flinched and pulled away, ready for the worst.

"Woah Haley, it's just me," Lucas greeted her, frowning at her actions. "Are you ok?"

"Yeah Luke, I'm fine," Haley replied with a genuine smile, walking closer to him, and hugging him. "Why does it feel like I haven't seen my best friend in forever?" she questioned him.

"Because it feels like we haven't." Lucas replied, walking with her, with one of his arms around Haley's shoulders. "What's up with that? Brooke said you were ill, is that true?"

"Is it true?" Haley repeated his question, knowing she was about to lie to her best friend, something they had swore never to do, but this was an exception. "If you had seen me at all last week you would know just how truthful Brooke was being. I felt like I was under 20 feet of crap and sinking fast." she told him, and she had, waking up after Nathan had finally finished, there way no denying how crappy she felt. Crappy wasn't even the word to describe it. "There was snot, coughing, sweating, everything. It wasn't for the weak at heart, and you don't want me to start with the whole retching story do you?"

"Spare me the details please Hales, I just finished one of my mom's breakfasts and I have no desire to see it yet again." he told her, with a slightly pale complexion.

"You never were good with the yucky stuff were you? Any sight of it and there you were adding to it." Haley said with a laugh.

"I'm so changing the subject, we really need to move on from the disgusting-ness of the previous conversation." he explained to her, changing the subject. "So how come Brooke Davis knew more about my best friend being sick, than her own best friend? I didn't even know you and Brooke hung out."

"Brooke witnessed the whole '_sick'_ thing, so of course she would know, if she witnessed it." Haley reasoned, trying not to let to much slip.

"Yeah but _Brooke_? I didn't know she cared about anyone but herself yanno? Maybe she was feeling charitable." Luke finished off with a laugh, that wasn't followed by Haley's own, like he thought it would be. Instead he found himself suddenly stopping in the middle of a semi-busy hallway, near Haley's locker, where infact Brooke stood waiting with his girlfriend.

"Lucas how could you say that?" Haley began, she couldn't believe what he had just said, it was so out of line that you couldn't even see the damn line anymore. "If you actually took the time to get to know Brooke when you were dating her, you would find that she is infact what you call a human being, I know, I know, that's a foreign concept to you right? When was the last time you did anything humane?" she asked rhetorically, how dare Lucas even say that? He had no right, he didn't know Brooke, like she knew Brooke. Brooke was kind, caring, _everything. _"I mean did you expect her to be nice towards you? Did you? I mean you were the one that cheated on her, with her best friend nonetheless. Goes to show how much you know about caring huh?" she finished off, her tone angry.

Glaring at him one last time, she turned on her heel and walked towards Peyton and Brooke. As she reached them, her arm slipped through Brooke's and she pulled them away, leaving a dumbfounded Lucas behind and Peyton who was staring at her boyfriend accusingly.

"Pey..." he began, only to stop as he saw Peyton turn around, much like Haley had, and walk away from him. "Well, what a damn fine way to start the day." he muttered to himself, before walking away.

**xxxx**

"I can't believe he said that!" Haley raged, still angry at Luke. "He had no right, what an ass!"

"Haley, it's all right." Brooke told her, they were in the school rest room, the only one's there. "I don't care, about what he said."

"But I do Brooke! I do, he had no right! Sure, maybe you can be a little bitchy and stuff, but so can everyone, that doesn't mean you're not a nice person and that you can't care about someone, who isn't yourself, because you can Brooke, you can." Haley stressed.

"Hey," Brooke began, taking Haley's hands in her own. "Look all I care about is that you know that, what he said isn't true. Everyone else can think what they like, and I wouldn't give a damn. It wouldn't be the first time I've heard the name, slut, bitch, snob, and my name go together. I ignore it, cause they don't know me Haley, none of them do. Until recently only Peyton really did, until you came along. And you're the only person who's opinion matters, a hundred people could call me a selfish bitch, and I would laugh it off, but the minute it comes out of your mouth, then I would care." she finished explaining.

"I would never say that about you Tigger, I know you, so I know that no matter how you act in front of your friends or the whole school, that it isn't you. The real you is just hid away till school's over, and I'm glad I'm one of the select few who get to see the real you, cause she's beautiful and I'm so glad that she's mine." Haley told her, causing Brooke to smile.

"I'm yours?"

"Uh..well I thought...you know with the kissing...that we were..." Haley stuttered, cursing herself at her choice in words, stopping only when Brooke caught her lips in a chaste kiss.

"I like that, I like being yours." Brooke told her. "But you have to be mine, as well."

"Like I was ever going to be anybody's else's." Haley replied, looking at Brooke like she was mad for thinking otherwise.

"I know we haven't talked about it, and the school bathroom probably isn't the best pace for it, but this isn't some phase for me, that I jumped into, to forget Lucas. I want this Haley, I want you. I want everything that comes with dating you, the goofy stares, the fluttery feeling I get in my stomach whenever I see you, the kisses in the morning, the feeling I get when I'm not with you, but then I know I'm seeing you the next day, the arguments, the make up's, your crazy sister. Everything." Brooke gushed, almost on the verge of a full out babble.

"I know it might seem a little fast to you Brooke, but I want that to." Haley told her honestly, Brooke's confession, making her want to say her own. "I know I'm just out of, for a lack of a better word, a relationship, with Nathan. It may seem like I'm just jumping into the arms of the next person that happened to walk along, but I swear it's not like that, you're not some rebound thing for me. The first time we kissed, blew me out of the water, it felt right. It never did with Nathan, it felt nice with him sure, but it was nothing compared to what it was like with you. I want this Brooke, I want you." she stressed, repeating Brooke's earlier sentiments.

"Well that works out _really_ well for both of us then huh? Us both wanting this to work, I'd say that's a pretty decent foundation for a relationship. Don't you think?" Brooke pointed out with a smile.

"Oh I'd say, it's a pretty good foundation, great even." Haley agreed, her sour mood for earlier gone. It always amazed her that no matter what mood she was feeling, Brooke always seemed to cheer her up all the more.

"I really want to kiss you right now." Brooke whispered, into the silent room.

"Well, I really want you to kiss me right now. So what's stopping you?" Haley whispered back, walking closer to Brooke.

"You. Me. School bathroom." Brooke reasoned, but walked to Haley. "That being said, it's never stopped me much before, and I don't see why I can't kiss my girlfriend, anywhere and anytime I want." she finished, leaning down and fusing her lips with Haley's, in what had promise to be a scorching kiss, that would no doubt leave them both breathless. All the factors were there and raring to go, when the bathroom door swung open, and several laughing voices were heard, causing Brooke and Haley to pull apart.

"I don't see anything Hales, are you sure you can feel anything in there?" Brooke asked, covering for them both.

"I'm pretty sure I can feel it Brooke, can't you see anything?" Haley asked, playing along.

"Nope, I can't see anything." Brooke said, pulling back. "Maybe if you blink a couple of times, it won't feel as weird."

"Uh Brooke?" one of the voices piped up.

Turning to the voice, Brooke gave them all a fake smile, and addressed the voice that called her name. "Theresa, what can I do for you?"

"What are you doing with _her_?" Theresa asked, with clear disgust in her voice, when mentioning Haley.

"She had something in her eye, I was checking it out for her, do you have a problem with that?" Brooke questioned, not in the mood to deal with Theresa today, it was bad enough she had to associate with her at cheerleading practice, but outside that as well? It was just to much.

"I didn't know you reached out to the less fortunate, what is it? Give the losers a break day? If it is, I didn't get the notice."

"You know Brooke, maybe I should go..." Haley began, only to be cut off when Brooke took hold of her arm.

"No Haley, I think we both should just go. I mean, look at our present company, an air head who can't even spell words with her arms, and is more comfortable laying flat on her back than standing up. Why would I wanna stay here with _that,_ when I can have an actual conversation with you, than what passes for a conversation with _her." _Brooke remarked cattily with just the same amount of disgust as Theresa had, when she was talking earlier. "Come on." was Brooke's parting words as she and Haley left the rest room, leaving behind a dumbfounded Theresa and more than a few amused faces.

**xxxx**

They say time flies by when you're having fun, but what about when you're stuck in a classroom, with no one other than yourself and the one person you desperately wanted to avoid today and always? Does it tick by so slowly, that every second is painfully prolonged for ever more? Right at this moment that was how Haley was feeling. Not five minutes ago she was making plans to meet Brooke and Peyton by Peyton's car, so they could go off campus for lunch, preferably to Karen's Cafe, and she was happy. She had been walking along minding her own business, when she had suddenly felt an arm grab her own injured arm and was pulled into an abandoned classroom. She had been so surprised, she hadn't put up much of a fight, she just wanted the pressure on her arm to stop. So now here she was, with Nathan. Alone.

"What the hell do you want?" she asked him harshly.

"Hales, you have to let me explain..." Nathan began, walking closer to her, stopping when Haley hurriedly backed away.

"Look Nathan, I don't want to hear it ok? In fact, I'd be really quite happy if I never had to see you ever again." Haley told him, keeping her distance from him. The last thing she wanted was a repeat performance of the last time they were together.

"Hey you're still my girlfriend, I have a right for you to hear me out." Nathan demanded forcefully, making it sound like he had more authority over Haley than she did herself, and it lasted for all of a second, before he heard Haley's laughter fill his ears.

"Girlfriend?" Haley asked beyond belief. "Oh Nate, if you think I'm still your girlfriend, you really need to think again. There is no way on this earth that I will ever feel the way I did for you ever again. The minute you laid a finger on me it was over. Do you get that? It's over."

"No, it's not, I say when it's over and it's not over ok? You're mine for as long as I want you, not the other way around sweetie," he told her with a smirk. "Now, I want to explain my state of mind when I was doing those...things to you," he began uneasily. "You see, I wasn't thinking straight, I never seem to think straight when you're involved, you just drive me crazy. Sometimes that's a good thing, and well, as you know it can be a bad thing as well. Now, I think we can get over this, if we set a couple of ground rules ok?" Nathan asked, as he paused for breath, and smiled at her. "Those would be, number 1, don't make me angry, I think we both know what the consequences of breaking that rule are, number 2, do what I tell you and everything will be fine, and number 3, get rid of Peyton and Brooke as friends, I don't want you around them, and if I see you anywhere near them, well, I won't be happy. Ok? You got that? Let's get out of here, I've missed you and we have a lot of making-out to catch up on." he said to her as he finished.

"Are you delirious Nathan? I mean really are you? Did you honestly think you'd find me, just so you could proceed to tell me what the hell I can and cannot do?" Haley asked him. "There's no chance what so ever of me coming back to you. You expected me to what, run into your open arms and say '_Oh it's all right Nathan, all is forgiven, it doesn't matter that you broke a few rib, but next time can you do it harder?'_ It doesn't work like that, don't you get it? We are _over_!"

"You're making me angry Haley, please don't make me hurt you again, I don't like doing it, but I _will_ if I have to. So come on we'll forget about it, just put it to the back of our minds and get out of here, ok?" he reasoned with her, clenching his un-cast fist tight, trying to keep his anger in check.

"I am _not_ going anywhere with you, understand that. Nowhere." Haley told him standing her ground.

"Damn it Haley!" Nathan yelled at her, kicking the desk that separated them, making it fall over, causing Haley to move backwards. "If you don't move your ass and come with me_ right now, _I will make you hurt so much more that I ever would have, to begin with." he finished off gravely, waiting for Haley's answer.

"No." was her unwavering reply.

"She's should have been here by now, Peyton." Brook told her again, for the sixth time in less than a minute.

"Yeah, I know she should be back Brooke, but she'll be ok thought," Peyton reassured her. "Right?"

"Yeah...of course she will be, she's Haley." Brooke replied, pushing herself off of Peyton's car.

"Yeah, she's Haley." Peyton agreed. "She was only going to the bathroom right?" Peyton wondered.

"Yeah, and then she told us she'd meet us out here, that she wouldn't be long, cause you know bathroom stops don't exactly take all that long." Brooke said, staring to pace. "But what if Nathan found her?"

"Well he wouldn't touch her would he? Not after what you did to him, right?"

"He'd be crazy..." Brooke trailed off, suddenly not liking the fact that Haley wasn't near her. She should have just went with her, it would have been so simply. Why didn't she go?

"Does she have her phone with her?"

"Peyton, I really don't think that this is the time for that sort of question, do you?"

"We could call her on her mobile, and see where she is, that's what I was getting at." Peyton told her.

"Good idea!" Brooke told her, grabbing her bag out of Peyton's front seat, looking through it until she found her phone, and then flinging it back to where she found it. Flipping open her phone, she dialled Haley's number and listened as it rang and rang, over and over, until it suddenly stopped. "That's weird." Brooke commented.

"What?" Peyton questioned.

"It just stopped, it was ringing and then there was nothing." Brooke told her frowning, then dialled the number again, only this time there wasn't a ringing tone. "She is to in the area." she whispered to herself, then looked at Peyton. "I think we need to find Haley, now." she told her, already heading in the direction of the main building, with Peyton hot on her heels.

"All you had to do is come with me Haley, it was that easy. Why'd you have to go and make it so complicated? It's all your fault, everything I'm going to do to you, is your fault." Nathan told walking towards her, stepping on the smashed mobile phone on the floor, crunching it up even more.

"Nathan think this through, we're in school, who can you possible get away with this?" Haley questioned, keeping her distance from him. _'All I have to do is keep him talking till Brooke comes, that had to be her calling, please let it have been her.'_

"I don't care where we are Haley," he raged at her. "Do you think after what you've done, I'm just going to let you go? Of course not, you deserve to be punished."

"You've lost it haven't you?" she asked him rhetorically, but believing he really had. "What happened to you?"

"You. You were always leading me on, flaunting yourself around, then pulling back at the last moment, is it really hard to believe, that you made me like this. So I thought, the next time she tries it, I'll show her who's boss, and I did, and I'm going to again." Nathan explained.

"That's some pretty twisted logic."

"Yeah but it's my logic." he told her, then without warning, lunged for her, grabbing Haley and pushing her up against one of the classrooms walls. "Now tell me you want me," he asked her, with a sick smile.

"I hate you." Haley wheezed, struggling under his grip, trying to break free.

"That wasn't the right answer, but we'll work on that." Nathan replied.

"She's not in the bathroom, Peyton, she should be, where the hell is she?"

"I don't know Brooke, I don't know." Peyton answered, uneasily.

"She's here somewhere, all we have to do is look for her." Brooke instructed, walking forward, intent on finding Haley, stopping when she was in front of Theresa. "Have you seen Haley?"

"Who?" Theresa asked, with a raised eyebrow.

"The girl I was with in the bathroom?"

"Oh her, no." Theresa replied, dismissing Brooke and going back to her group.

"Damn it," Brooke cursed to herself, getting ready to storm off again.

"Uh Brooke?"

"What is it Bevin?" Brooke asked her testily, wanting to be gone. Both her and Peyton were itching to go.

"Haley's that tutor girl right?" Bevin asked her hesitantly.

"Yeah, why have you seen her?" Brooke wondered, apprehensively.

"I saw her about 5 maybe 10 minutes ago, she was walking along, when someone pulled her into a classroom." Bevin told both of them.

"Which classroom?" Peyton asked, anxiously.

"Um, Mr Barker's, math's class." Bevin replied.

"Come on." Peyton said to Brooke, grabbing on to her arm and pulling her away, hurrying down the hall.

"Haley!" Brooke yelled rushing through the door, stopping short at the site in front of her.

"Brooke." Haley breathed out, smiling at her.

"Are you ok?" Peyton asked, as her and Brooke walked closer to where Haley was standing.

"I'm fine." Haley replied.

"What happened to him?" Brooke asked, glaring down at Nathan who lay on the floor.

"He had me up against the walk and he was just about to hit me again," Haley began, walking closer to Brooke and reached for her hand, taking it in her own. "But I wasn't going to let him do that to me again, I mean, if I did, he would just keep on doing it over and over, so I did the first thing that came into my mind. I got him where it hurt, and well he fell and crawled up like a little baby." she explained.

"We should get you home." Peyton advised.

"Yeah, I would like that." Haley agreed.

"Let's go." Brooke said, walking with Haley and Peyton out of the classroom, leaving Nathan laying on the floor groaning.

**xxxx**

**  
**"So are you sure you're ok?"

"Brooke, really I'm fine." Haley told her.

"Are you _really_ sure?" Brooke asked her again, laying down next to her on the sofa.

"I'm really, really sure." Haley assured her. "But thank you for coming to my rescue."

"Oh I hardly came to your rescue, you were doing pretty well yourself, I don't think you needed mine or Peyton's help that much. though I do wish I was there, when you actually did it, that would have been a memory I would have treasured, forever." Brooke told her.

"Next time, I'll remember a camera so I can capture it in a photo." Haley joked.

"Oh no, I think I can pass on it. I mean I can live without the photographic proof, simple because I never want it to happen again." Brooke reasoned.

"I think we can both agree to that."

"He's crazy though, isn't he?" Brooke questioned.

"The way he was talking, completely."

"What if he tries it again?"

"You think he would?" Haley wondered.

"If he's crazy enough to try it at school, then I think he may be crazy enough to try it again." Brooke told her. "I'll just have to make sure that he doesn't get you alone. Not that I plan to be to far away from you. I have this thing about being near you. That it has to be all the time." Brooke told her with a smile.

"You being around me all the time?" Haley questioned mostly to herself. "Like that's ever going to be a bad thing."

"To be honest, I'm really looking forward to it."

"You're not the only one. But I have to say, I must be getting the better end of the deal." Haley told her.

"How so?" Brooke wondered.

"Well, I'm gonna have you around almost all day everyday, I can't possible see how that's a bad thing."

"Well I am amazing company." Brooke informed Haley, smirking.

"Big headed too." Haley replied with a laugh, that got louder when Brooke swatted her arm.

"If you had've let me finish, I would have said, it was only because of the company I'm in, mainly you."

"Aww, baby, you're so sweet." Haley gushed.

"I know." Brooke replied before leaning in and kissing her soundly on the lips.

"I never get tired of that." Haley told her softly, bringing her hand up and brushing Brooke's hair out of her face.

"That's good, because I never get tired of doing it." Brooke replied, leaning in again.

"Stay tonight?" Haley asked after pulling back.

"For you anything." Brooke agreed, smiling at Haley, as they continued to talk, laying on sofa.

**End of Chapter 11.**

That's all folk's! For this chapter at least! Remember, be good and nice and all things sweet and leave a review, they warm a cold heart at night...


	12. Chapter 12

Author's Note - Hi there, I'm sorry about the whole lack of the updates, I have no excuse, though writer's block has played it's hand in a more than a few times. But thanks for sticking with me, and I hope everyone who has been reading this, is still enjoying it. I am going somewhere with it, that much I know. It's the getting there that's the hard part.

Also the Author of **Who Would Have Thought,** wants me to let you guys know, that she hasn't forgotten about that story and there will be an update soon.

Well I hope you enjoy this chapter, let me know what you all think about it.

**xxxx**

**Chapter 12 - The Wackiness Sure is Your Thing When We Talk.**

Nathan Scott. Nathan Scott? That name was driving her crazy, she knew him, she just didn't know how she _knew_ him, if that made any sense. Taylor tried her best, to remember how she knew that name, but all she had came up with was nothing. Maybe if she saw a picture of him, it would trigger something in her. She just couldn't believe that he had the balls to actually try and hurt her sister. When she got her hands on him, there really was no telling what she'd do to him. Out of all of her siblings, Haley was the only one she got along with, the others were to busy with their own lives to check in with her. She loved Haley to death, and if anyone hurt her, they might as well have hurt her to and that was _not_ a good thing to do.

Sighing she slumped down onto her bed, trying to think of something else, but ever since Brooke had let her know what had happen today at school, it was on a constant rerun inside her head and she hated it.

"I wanna hurt him so bad." she whispered into the silent room.

"Would that be the, infamous Nathan Scott?" a second voice asked, as it floated throughout the room.

"Peyton," Taylor stated, seeing her friend slouching against the door frame to her bedroom. "What are you doing here?"

"Door was open," Peyton began casually. "Well, no it wasn't, but no one was answering so, I let myself in."

"My casa, is your casa." Taylor told her with a friendly smile.

"Woo hoo, I've wormed my way into yet another unsuspecting family. Damn, am I good, or am I good?" Peyton gloated with a laugh.

"What can I say, you've grew on me. I couldn't kick out you now, out even if I wanted to." Taylor explained with her own laugh.

"Aww, I feel so loved."

"Who knew I'd actually befriend a cheerleader, a blonde cheerleader at that. I swear, I thought it was out of the realm of possibility."

"I'm not your average cheerleader. I have powers you haven't even seen yet." Peyton explained mysteriously.

"Well, damn, now I'm intrigued. You've intrigued me Peyton, not many people have managed to pull off that feat. I must give you my respect." Taylor told, with mock awe, towards Peyton.

"But if you give me your respect, then you won't have any of your own respect left, then i'll fell bad that you don't have any of your own respect, which is my fault, so therefore, I'll have to give you my respect, and then we'll each have, each others respect. And you know what that means? We'll be _each_ other! You'll be me and I'll be you!" Peyton babbled going off in a tangent.

"Dude," Taylor breathed out, her ears were starting to hurt after that mouthful. "You sure do know how to babble! I swear if you ever give up the rock chick persona then you'll surely have the makings of a perky blonde." Taylor informed her with a smirk.

"It only happens when I'm around certain people. I find, otherwise I have nothing to say and I'd rather not be on the receiving end of an uncomfortable silence. It just doesn't become me." Peyton retorted, causing Taylor to snort.

"Like we've _ever_ had an uncomfortable silence between us. I can never get you to shut up for one thing."

"That is true." Peyton replied with a goofy smile, while pushing herself off of the door frame she was leaning on, and walking over to where Taylor lay on her bed, then falling down next to her. "So tell me, was it Nathan Scott that you wanted to hurt so bad?"

"You heard that?"

"Well, you see, I have these things called ears, and they pick up vibrations in the air and transfer them into words. I know crazy concept right? Anyway you spoke these words and my fabulous things that have been named ears, picked up these words spoken by you, so to answer your question, yes I did, I did hear what you said." Peyton answered, only succeeding in confusing Taylor even more.

"You're gonna drive me mad today, aren't you?" Taylor questioned gravely, almost dreading the day ahead. It was only eleven o'clock in the morning, talk like Peyton's talk should be kept for times well after twelve, where people were prepared for the insanity coming out of her mouth, and had enough coffee in them so they could keep up with her.

"I wouldn't be me if I wasn't driving you mad at any minute throughout the day." Peyton answered simply.

"Yes, it was him, I just can't believe he actually had the audacity to try something at school, what is he crazy?" Taylor wondered.

"Well, the votes are in and it has been determined that yes, yes he is. He's as crazy as a teenybopper at a Backstreet Boys concert, or as crazy as a crazy Pokemon loving, card collector, who just found out that his prized card worth $100,000 has been washed by his mother, because he _accidentally_ left it in his jeans pocket." Peyton concluded.

"That's a lot of crazy."

"Oh I know, I've witnessed them both first hand, and they are not a pretty sight. Not at all. Not one bit. Not even a tiny little smidgen. It was disastrous. Devastating in the end."

"Like this conversation?"

"Yeah, I was heading towards that." Peyton mused.

"You know what we need to do Peyton?" Taylor suddenly asked. "We need to take Haley's mind off of what happened with Nathan." she continued, answering her own question, before Peyton even had the chance to open her mouth to answer the actual question, that was directed at her.

"You know what Tay, out of all your idea's that is one of your best. I mean, I know sometimes yeah, your idea's suck, but I do believe you have just redeemed yourself from a whole lot of previous suckage!" Peyton let her know happily.

"Suckage?" Taylor wondered, she knew she shouldn't ask questions like this and just follow what Peyton said, but sometimes Peyton's way with words just boggled her mind and she had to question it. She knew she'd hate to play scrabble with the girl, who knew what she would come up with then, she dreaded to think.

"I don't know," Peyton exclaimed. "My mouth opens and words come out, I don't exactly think of what I say before it comes out. I need a filter, but they cost to much and well, the operation sounds scary. So I'll just leave this little explanation at; my mouth runs away from me and before I can actually think of what to say, the words are already out there."

"Ah, all has become clear!" Taylor stated, sniggering at the image her mind was conjuring up, with Peyton chasing after her runaway mouth.

"Shut up!" Peyton told her, swatting her on the arm. "So what pray tell, is your ingenious plan?"

"Well, I was thinking; move up the plan. It makes sense right? I mean it's only a day earlier, and Monday's are pretty quiet. I think. Why not have the dinner tonight?" Taylor reasoned, it made sense to her, and if it made sense to her, then it had to make sense to Peyton.

"I like your way of thinking!" Peyton exclaimed, jumping up on the bed, only to cross her legs indian style, and lean into Taylor, like they were going to come up with some sort of master plan. Which, when they both came to think about it, they sorta were, seeing as they were trying to get there sister/best friend, with there other friend/best friend. It was a complicated masterful plan, that had to go off without a hitch.

"Ok, you book the table and I'll let them know the plan ok?" Taylor questioned.

"Why can't you book the table and I'll tell them about it?" Peyton wondered.

"Why? Do you want to do it like that, cause we can, if you want that is, or we can stick to the original plan."

"We'll stick to the original plan, I was just testing to see if you were some sorta control freak, that had to have everything going your way."

"You're insufferable." Taylor told her with a sigh.

"But you love me right?" Peyton questioned, that sounded more like a statement.

"Sadly yes I do, like I said before, you've gone and grew on me like mould on bread, and no matter how hard you try to get rid of it, it comes back. So after a while you just get used to it, it's there and if it was gone, you'd miss it."

"Gee, thanks, I'm like mould to you; I've always wanted to be compared to mould." Peyton retorted sarcastically. "Now I can score that off of my list. Number 13; get compared to mould - accomplished."

"Number 13? You number 13 was to get compared to mould? Jeez Peyton, I think we need to sign you into an insane asylum."

"Only if you were my roommate, you know I can't go long without my dose of Tay for a day." Peyton told her sweetly. "Heh, that rhymed. I'm a poet and I didn't even know it."

"That's old Pey, so, so old, that it makes Albert Einstein look like he's in his prime."

"I always wondered about Einstein and his crazy hairdo, yanno for such a genius, he sure wasn't up on his personal hygiene was he?"

"How do you do it Peyton? Seriously, how?" Taylor wondered truly stumped.

"Do what?"

"Make me have a conversation that has about fifty different subjects going on in it."

"I believe it was only three, four or five subjects, but nevertheless, need I remind you that I have powers you have yet to see. You've just witnessed one of the many." Peyton exclaimed, jumping up off of the bed and clasping her hands together. "I'm gonna go do my thing, you go do yours." she said, turning around with a smile and walking out of the room.

"And the insanity ends." Taylor breathed out.

**xxxx**

"So we all had a little to much to drink that night, and Peyton thought it's be an amazingly, good idea to get her dad's spray paint out of the garage, take it to school and write, _'Tree Hill High's, Cheerleaders rock ass!'_ not original and pretty much putting us in the firing line, and well, me and the rest of the cheerleaders thought this was just a great idea. Bare in mind, we're no exactly sober enough to be thinking straight. So off we go to complete our amazingly, great plan. Anyway we finish up our spraying, I don't remember anyone else's, but mines was quiet artful, I was proud. We take a step back and the laughter just pours out of us, you see instead of writing, _'Tree Hill High's, Cheerleaders rock ass!' _we had somehow managed to write, _'Tree Hill High's, Cheerleaders asses rock!'_ The next thing we know, is the night security guy, had caught us and we had to scrub it all off and we had detention for a week." Brooke finished, telling Haley her adventure with a drunken Peyton and the rest of the cheerleading squad.

"Oh my God, I remember that rumour going about. I didn't believe it, but it was true!" Haley bellowed with a laugh.

"Yes, it was true, my fingers hurt like a bitch afterwards, I'd never felt agony like it before in my life."

"Aww, there, there baby, it's all over now." Haley said, reaching for Brooke's hand, bringing it up to her mouth and kissing her fingers softly. "Is that better?"

"Well, every now and then, the pain just flares back up, without any warning, and you can't forget about the other hand, that hurts to."

"Ah, how stupid of me, I can't believe I forgot the other hand as well."

"We're all a little forgetful sometimes," Brooke reasoned. "But baby, as much as I'm enjoying your attention, to my hands no less, I'm pretty sure my lips are feeling neglected."

"Heaven forbid!" Haley remarked with a slight smile, before dropping Brooke's hands and leaning up and joining both of there lips together.

"Why didn't we do this so much sooner?" Brooke wondered, when they pulled apart minutes later.

"We were crazy misguided fools?"

"That sounds about right."

"Let's never be crazy misguided fools again, ok? I'd miss my Brooke kissage too much."

"Oh and I wouldn't miss my Haley kissage?"

"Well, you might not." Haley reasoned.

"Oh I would. It's hard to get through a minute without Haley kissage, I need my Haley kissage. Haley kissage is of the ultimate goodness."

"Brooke you're weird." Haley pointed out.

"Yeah I know," Brooke told her, with a smile, reaching up slightly and kissing Haley once again. She was enjoy her current role as Haley's life size pillow, there was no one other than Haley, that she would want to be laying on top of her, smiling down at her, with that Haley-esque smile that she loved. "Would you do something for me?"

"Anything."

"Sing for me?" Brooke questioned.

"Anything, but that." Haley answered, leaning down and resting her head on Brooke's chest.

"Please? You said you would, remember?"

"Yeah, I remember. I just hoped that you wouldn't." Haley replied.

"You sounded amazing Haley. You have nothing to worry about baby, it's not like I'm going to laugh in your face, saying that you were awful, because I know you won't be."

"How can you be so sure?"

"Because I know you Haley, and I heard you singing the end of that song, I know you'll be great." Brooke told her.

"You really want to hear me sing, huh?"

"More than I want the new Gucci shoe's that are out this summer."

"That much?"

"That much Roo, please? For me?"

"Fine." Haley relented, pushing herself up and off of Brooke and her bed. "Now?"

"Yeah, now!" Brooke replied happily.

"The things I do for you, Brooke Davis."

"The things you're gonna do for me, Haley James." Brooke retorted with a devilish smirk, causing Haley to blush slightly.

"Let's get this over with." Haley stated with a sigh, pulling her keyboard out a little, and then sitting behind it, her hands hovering over the keys.

"I know you'll be great." Brooke told her confidently.

Haley sighed again, it wasn't so much so, that she didn't want to play for Brooke, she was just nervous, utterly and completely nervous. She had never played in front of anyone. She was fairly certain that she sounded ok, but what if she made a fool of herself and didn't actually sound ok, what if she sounded bad? That would suck, especially if she sounded bad in front of Brooke. Shaking her hands, seemed to shake away all her nerves though, and she let out a long breath and began to play. Her fingers ran across the keys like an expert knowing when and where to touch.

Then she sang, and Brooke listened as the words floated through the air, making her shiver in delight as Haley's voice took on a sultry sound as her voice grew and flourished. She watched as Haley's eyes closed; like she was singing for no one but herself, letting herself go and letting her voice take control. A voice which Brooke thought was amazingly, breathtaking and powerful, and that she was certain that you could only hear on tv. But Haley wasn't on tv and she wasn't just some person she was listening to on the radio, no Haley was right in front of her, behind her keyboard singing, with a voice that Brooke silently dubbed '_angelic'_, something she hadn't heard in a long time. She had no idea that Haley would blow her away, figuratively speaking, with her performance. Sure she knew that she was good, but it was surprising that she had this much talent and that no one knew about it.

Minutes later, Haley's voice quietened and drew to a close.

Opening her eyes once she was done, Haley looked at Brooke questionably. "Well?"

"Wow," was Brooke's simple answer, she was speechless otherwise, which was a rare occurrence.

"Really?" Haley wondered, suddenly shy.

"Really, really Haley! You were great. On a scale of one to ten on greatness, you were an eleven." Brooke gushed standing up and walking over to where Haley sat. Taking her hand in her own, Brooke pulled Haley up and into her. "You were fantastic. My girl can sing, and I got the scoop first." Brooke remarked, causing Haley to laugh. "I hope you know that, that wasn't the last time you were gonna sing for me, there has to be so many repeat performances to that."

"Well, seeing as you're so bossy, I guess that there's going to be more."

"I'm not bossy. Sexy," Brooke began, kissing Haley as she named her qualities. "Sweet," another kiss. "Magnificent yeah," followed by another. "But not bossy."

"Well, I can't disagree there," Haley whispered, leaning in and kissing Brooke yet again, she found Brooke kissage to be addictive, and she wasn't planning on stopping her addiction anytime soon. "I have much more of your qualities to list, but if I did, and kissed you after everyone, well it'd just take to damn long. So why don't we just skip to the whole kissing bit?"

"Sounds good to me," Brooke answered with a giggle, leaning in and capturing Haley's mouth with her own. For the life of her, she knew she'd never get tired of doing this, not in the slightest, it was her new favourite thing, except it wasn't exactly new anymore, but it was still her favourite thing.

Haley nipped at Brooke's lower lip, pulling on it, causing Brooke to grunt, and moan. _'Mmmh, if that gets that reaction everytime, I'm really going to have to do that so much more often.'_ Haley thought mischievously. Moving her hand up Brooke's back, Haley lost it in her hair, as she pulled Brooke closer to her. Space between them was a bad thing she concluded, she never wanted anything between Brooke and herself, just their bodies touching. Stumbling forward, Haley moved Brooke backwards, tripping slightly every now and then, when their feet tangled, until the back of Brooke's legs hit Haley's bed and then they were falling.

Brooke liked the sensation Haley's lips were causing, her mind was as usual when she was around Haley, cloudy at best. She liked the sensations even better, when she reached the bed and they both fell, because when landing, Haley always fell into her all that bit more and that was her fleeting taste of heaven for that day. Reaching out with her hand, Brooke ran it down Haley's back until it reached her ass. Brooke would never admit it to anyone, but she was an ass girl. Before she and Haley had even got together, she would watch Haley walk around Karen's Cafe, mostly when she was walking away from her. Tutor Girl sure had the finest ass in Tree Hill. Maybe she was a little biased now, but the fact still remained the same, her girl had a damn fine butt. That thought made her smile into her kiss with Haley, as her hand cupped that said butt, bringing Haley towards her.

"I never get tired of this," Haley breathed out as her and Brooke pulled apart, simply due to the fact of there dire need of oxygen. If oxygen was never an issue, then they'd be pretty sure they'd never come up for air, not that they would ever need to.

"Me either," Brooke agreed, leaning up and sealing there lips together for yet another kiss, she figured, they'd both taken in enough oxygen for another bout of kissage.

She was right, they had, and the kissing continued. It continued even when Brooke couldn't keep up her position and fell back onto the bed beneath her. Haley had only followed. Moving her lips from Brooke's, Haley traced her lips along Brooke's jaw line, and back for a chaste kiss on the lips and then back along the jaw line, like a lost man retracing his steps. Then her lips fell to Brooke's neck, teasing her, as she grazed her teeth down it, nipping it every now and then and licking her way back up. Causing Brooke to moan at every lick and causing her breath to hitch at every graze.

"Haley." Brooke moaned out, her sense's were going haywire, and to her haywire was a good thing, she could feel every move Haley made on top of her, hear and feel her hot breath on her neck. Ragged came to mind, when describing it. Gathering what little sense she had left, Brooke flipped Haley over, so that she was now on top, much to the surprise of Haley.

"Well you're just full of surprises aren't you?" Haley whispered up at Brooke, only getting Brooke's smile in return.

"My turn." Brooke whispered into Haley's ear, leaning down further, kissing the area behind Haley's ear, which resulted in an almost instantaneous moan from Haley. She knew that was a sensitive area for Haley, she had watched her long enough to know her pretty well, and now she was reaping the rewards that came with paying such close attention. Her hands were doing not much of anything, and she wondered why the hell that was. Mere milliseconds after that thought passed through her mind, her hands kicked in and were moving over Haley's body. Reaching down, one hand reached the hem of Haley t-shirt, and under it went, till her hand was flat against Haley's stomach. Feeling Haley's breath suddenly suck in, Brooke looked up to see if she was ok. Leaning up she kissed Haley's lips once. "Is this ok?"

"God yes," Haley drew out slowly, it was more than ok, it was mind shatteringly good. She felt Brooke's hand move back and forth across her stomach making patterns, sometimes with her whole hand, and then her fingers for just seconds. Each time Brooke moved her hand, she felt it inch up more and more, until her fingers scraped along the underside of her breast, causing her to shudder. This was so, completely different from what she had, had with Nathan. Nathan was rough and harsh, he wanted everything his was. Brooke was slow and teasing, in a good way. That was why if felt so good, opposed to her encounter with Nathan. Her thoughts fled her mind, when she felt Brooke cup her breast and squeeze it gently, all she could do, was arch up into Brooke's touch and moan her name.

But the knocking at her door brought them both back to reality with a resounding crash.

"Haley? Are you there?" Taylor asked as her voice floated through the closed door, causing Haley and Brooke to still there actions and lay there for a second, in the aftermath of the knocking. An interruption.

"Crap!" Haley breathed out.

"Ssh, she'll hear you." Brooke whispered, trying to keep her giggles in.

"It's not _funny_ Brooke!" Haley whispered.

"I know, but your face, when you heard Taylor's voice, it was priceless." Brooke explained.

"Haley?" Taylor's voice spoke up again.

"Yeah well, keep it down," Haley said with a smile, reaching up and planting a kiss on Brooke's lips before turning them both over, so Brooke lay on her back. "Just stay there."

"Yes, ma'am." Brooke replied as she watched Haley get up off of her bad and head over to the door, killing the lights before opening the door.

"Hey Tay," Haley spoke, facing Taylor.

"Hey Haley-Bub, what's up?"

"Nothing much, I was just reading." Haley answered.

"With the lights off?" Taylor observed.

"Brooke's taking a nap. She's not used to getting up so early for school, and then after today's excitement, I think it pretty much wiped her out." Haley fibbed.

"Shouldn't that be you instead?"

"I'm ok. Sure at first I was scared, but I stood up to him. So I'm ok." Haley explained.

"Hales, this is me you're talking to, your bestest big sis, don't lie to me." Taylor began. "You're not a hundred per cent yet, you must be hurting."

"My rib were killing me when I got home, but I took those pain killers the doctor gave me and they aren't so bad now, I'm fine Taylor. Really." Haley told her sister trying to ease her mind.

"What about your arm? You have to go and get the stitches out sometime this week." Taylor pointed out.

"I didn't pull anything when we were both in the classroom, so it's ok, a little itchy every now and then, but nothing I can't deal with."

"So you're ok?"

"Yes, that's what I've been telling everyone that's asked so far, and that's what I'm telling everyone who'll ask, because it's actually the truth." Haley told her.

"Good, so are you up for some dinner tonight? At a restaurant, with me and Peyton, and Brooke of course." Taylor wondered.

"That sounds good, yeah, why not?" Haley agreed.

"Cool," Taylor replied with a smile. "Peyton's just booking it, so I'll let you know what's happening later on."

"Thanks."

"Not a problem."

"Not just for the dinner Taylor, for everything, for being my big sister, for being there for me. Thanks for being my sister." Haley told her affectionately, causing Taylor to smile.

"It's a pleasure, believe me, I couldn't have asked for a better sister than you. I love you." Taylor said to her, reaching forward and hugging her sister.

"Love you too," Haley replied, muffled by Taylor's shoulder.

Pulling back, Taylor ruffled Haley's hair like she used to do when they were younger. "I'll let you get back to your reading." she said before, shutting the door and leaving Haley and Brooke alone in the room.

The night ahead, waiting for them.

**End of Chapter 12.**

Well another day another chapter. I had intended to include the whole restaurant date thing in this, as well as something else, but when it came to write it, I got nothing. I tried to write it for a week but alas it wasn't happening. So the next chapter will pick up where this left off. And I hope it doesn't take as to get out as this chapter did. 

**So enjoy and as always review!**


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N - **I don't wanna bug you with a huge author's note, telling you I've finally updated after taking such a long time to update. Cause you can see that. I am sorry for the wait though. Very. And yeah I won't have computer access for a month, so I won't be updating for a bit, but I will when I get back to it. Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy the chapter. Let me know what you think. Sorry to keep you waiting.

**xxxx**

**Chapter 13 - My Eyes saw that? Did they?**

It was late, well later than it had been an hour ago. Which would always be true, seeing as how as time went on, the later it got. There was no earlier, only later, unless of course, you were referring to an earlier time. But that's neither here nor there. It was late in the day, and the sun had long fell, giving the sky up to the moon, which shimmered high above. The moonlight's white light covered what it could reach, otherwise the blackness of the night engulfed it, it's only salvation being that of the streetlights, that glowed with there orange, artificial light. The slight breeze made the evening bearable, dissipating the heat that seemed to stick to everyone. It's only mission that night. The only indication that the breeze was infact there, was the slight cooling of the skin and the rustling of the leaves on the trees, as the wind swept by.

It was a calm night. Which was more than could be said for the James's house. No, that was not calm, it was anything but.

"Taylor!" Haley's voice bellowed throughout the house. "Where's my other shoe?"

"I don't know! It's your shoe, you should know where you had it last." Taylor yelled from her room.

"No, I shouldn't, you borrowed them remember? Then decided they didn't match your outfit and now I only have one." Haley explained, on the verge of exasperation with her sister, as she hobbled into Taylor's room, minus one shoe. "So dear sister, where the hell is the other one?"

"Um..." Taylor sounded out as she tried to remember why the other shoe - the right one she noticed - wasn't with it partner. "Have you tried the bathroom?" she guessed.

"The bathroom? No, it is not in the bathroom Taylor, I checked. Twice!" Haley told her, frustrated. She hated getting ready with Taylor, ever since they were little, Taylor always, always, complicated every matter ten folds, but she wouldn't be her sister otherwise, so she'd learned to live with it and even found it endearing at times. Not at this moment in time though. She just wanted to find her damn shoe, otherwise she'd have to change her outfit, again, and she didn't want to have to do that.

"What about the living room?" Taylor wondered.

"It's not there either, neither is it in the kitchen, my room, the hall or the porch outside!" Haley fumed.

"Haley-bub, chill would you? It's not the end of the world, it's a shoe. A shoe. Sure i'd see the point if it was a $100, but I would never lose that. But it's not a $100, it's a shoe. See where I'm going here?" Taylor mused. "It's not that important."

"Well, what if it was my only pair of shoes Taylor? Then it would be important!"

"Yeah, but it wasn't your only pair Hales, you have plenty." Taylor pointed out to her sister, slightly questioning her sanity. Why was she going postal over a missing shoe?

"You're insufferable!" Haley exclaimed hotly, before glaring at Taylor and hobbling out the room, in search of the much debated missing shoe.

Taylor couldn't help but laugh at her sister's antics, they amused her to no end. They had started over an hour ago, when she had found out where she was going to be eating.

_Looking at her sister, relaxing on the sofa, Taylor couldn't help the smile that came over her. It reminded her of all the times, that she had saw Haley like this when they were both younger. So care free and innocent. She marvelled at the fact that Haley could still pull that look off, after all that she had been through. But then Haley herself hadn't done anything wrong, so there was no reason that she shouldn't not look like the picture of innocence._

_Walking over to where Haley was laying, Taylor flopped down beside her and cuddled up to her little sister. Which caused Haley to tare her eyes away from television she was watching and look down at Taylor questionably._

_"What?" she asked._

_"Nothing," Taylor replied, smiling up at Haley._

_"Ok, seriously, what?" _

_"Can't I just sit here with my favourite little sister in the world? I mean is that such a crime?" Taylor wondered._

_"Are you up to something? Because that so wouldn't be cool." Haley informed her._

_"Nope, I'm not up to anything. Girl Scout's honour." Taylor replied, rasing her hand up and doing the salute._

_"First off Taylor; you were never in the Girl Scout's, secondly; that's the wrong hand." Haley pointed out with a smile, causing Taylor to stick out her tongue at her._

_"Don't you remember all the times we used to stay up late when mom and dad were asleep, or I was baby-sitting you, and we used to make bowls and bowls of popcorn, so once we finished one bowl, we didn't have to stop what we were doing to make another one. Then we'd curl up next to each other on this very sofa and watch movie after movie, hiding behind the blanket if we got scared, until we both fell asleep. Do you remember that?"_

_"Yeah I do," Haley replied wistfully. "It was always fun knowing you were looking after me, because I knew what we were gonna do, and from the minute I burst in the front door, fresh from school, the fun started and didn't end till our eyes closed. What I remember most though, was when a scary bit came on, I always cuddled into you more, because when I was in your arms, that was the safest place I knew. You were my big sister. You protected me from everything. The spider that always stayed on the front porch, no matter what, the fluff balls under the bed, that always ran at me when I tried to get something from under it, to the monsters in my closet. You were my hero. You still are."_

_"Way to choke you sister up Haley-bub," Taylor breathed out. _

_"I practice it daily." Haley told her with a giggle. _

_"Ah, so that's what you practice in front of the mirror, for an hour, everyday huh? Mystery solved."_

_"Hardly. I'm the biggest mystery in this world. I don't plan on ever being solved." _

_"Well, I hate to tell you this Hay, but I know all there is to know about you, so sooner or later, the mystery that is you, won't be so mysterious." Taylor let her know. "Hey, when are you getting changed?" she questioned, taking in her sister's appearance. Blue, baggy jeans and a black, "Club Sandwiches, Not Seals" t-shirt, weren't exactly the proper thing to wear, where they were eating._

_"Changed? Can't I just wear this? It's comfy."_

_"Well, I don't think the management would be to happy, they probably have a dress code or something." Taylor pointed out._

_"Karen's has a dress code? I find that highly doubtful." Haley pointed out._

_"Karen's?" Taylor wondered out loud. "Hales, we aren't going there."_

_"We're not?" Haley questioned, sitting up a bit on the sofa. "Then where are we going?"_

_"Artemis."_

_"What?" Haley screeched, very uncharacteristically. "Tell me you did not just say that."_

_"Sorry Haley-bub, but I did." _

_"When?" _

_"In like two hours." _

_"Great Tay, just great!" Haley fumed again, rolling herself over Taylor, till she was standing. "You could have mentioned this, oh I don't know, like an hour ago! I need to go change."_

And she had changed. More than once. She dreaded looking into Haley's room, afraid she might get lost in numerous amount of clothes that were no doubt everywhere. Walking out of her own room, Taylor made her way to where she guessed Haley would be. Pushing the door open slightly, she leant in.

"You've changed, _again?_"

"Well, I wouldn't have needed to if someone hadn't stolen my shoe."

"I didn't steal it!" Taylor huffed, walking further into the room and sitting down on Haley's bed.

"I bet your like, gonna hold it to some shoe ransom! You big shoe thief!" Haley ranted, comically, causing Taylor to look at her like she was the furthest thing from sane. Try as she might to contain her laughter, it was a futile attempt, it was out of her mouth before she had a chance to control it, and Haley glaring at her just made it worse.

"It's not funny!"

"Oh, it's plenty funny Hales." Taylor sniggered. "Shoe ransom and shoe thief?" she mocked playfully, laughing some more, which caused Haley to smile, that seconds later turned into her own laugh, finally seeing the funny side of it.

They were still laughing when, Haley's bedroom door opened.

"Do you guy's ever answer your door?" Peyton asked. "Seriously, I mean I don't know how many timesI've just walked in here."

"Well, I tried to find special Peyton locks so you couldn't, but you thwarted every attempt. So I finally gave up, it wasn't worth the energy I was using up." Taylor informed both her sister and Peyton.

"She's such a kidder this one huh Haley?"

"Oh yeah, biggest kidder around. You'll never find a bigger kidder that her."

"Wasn't that reserved solely for you, Blondie?"

"Oh no Tay, you deserve it. We should worship you as the biggest kidder, that you are."

"Hmm, yes, you should worship me. Bow before the greatness that is me." Taylor commanded.

"You would like that would you?" Peyton questioned. "For me to kneel before you and worship you, like the goddess you think you are."

"Peyton," Taylor began with a smirk. "You could worship me all you like, but you don't always need to be doing that, when you're on your knee's in front of me." Taylor finished with a lewd smirk.

"Eww, gross Tay!" Haley remarked cringing. "Do you have to say that to my best friend?"

"It's my duty as a sister."

"They're at it again huh?" a voice from the door spoke up.

"Brooke!" Haley noted happily, her face lighting up as soon as she saw the brunette.

"I'm gonna do you both a favour," Brooke began, indicating to Taylor and Peyton, while walking over to where Haley sat on one of the piles of clothes that were set to take over the room, sitting down next to her. "I'm gonna use my dad credit card and buy you both a room, and for a whole 24 hour's you can work through this unresolved sexual tension you both have towards each other, does that sound fair?" she finished with a wide smile. It amazed her, how she could only be around for all of two minutes and she was already having fun. She would rather be here, next to Haley, in the same room as her sister and their curly blonde friend, than at a party getting intoxicated out of her mind. Inching her hand over to Haley's behind them both, and entwining there fingers together, only cemented that fact even more as Haley's smiling face looked her way. Yeah this way the only place she wanted to be.

"It sounds fair to me Tigger, I think it'd do the trick, just like that." Haley agreed.

"Guys you so need to get off of this subject, I mean it's getting old." Taylor told them.

"Yeah, but it's fun." Brooke replied, with a smile.

"Well, I'm dying for a drink, anyone want anything, before we head off?" Peyton asked as she got up off the bed, heading for the door. Three shakes of the head were her answer. "Guess it's a solo run, huh?"

"We'll meet you down there Pey, it's almost time to head out anyway." Brooke told her.

"Cool," Peyton replied, heading out the door and down to the kitchen.

"That girl's a hoot and a half," Taylor remarked, with a smile.

"Yeah she is. Why do you think we've been friends since pre-school?" Brooke told her.

"Cause you have the utmost taste in people and seem to be drawn to the best kind?"

"Well, there is that." Brooke agreed, causing Taylor to laugh.

"I'm actually am kinda thirsty. I'm gonna go grab a can. See you when you come down." Taylor told them, following Peyton's earlier path.

"And then there was two huh?" Brooke pointed out.

"Yeah," Haley replied. "It seems that way."

"Whatever shall we do?"

"I haven't got the faintest idea. We could talk?" Haley mused.

"Hmm," Brooke said, thinking it over. "Nah!" she answered seconds later, leaning into Haley, kissing her, causing them to fall back into the clothes. Laughing they pulled apart.

"I missed you." Brooke told Haley, reaching up and brushing Haley's loose strand of hair behind her ear.

"We were apart for like an hour or two." Haley pointed out.

"Yeah but Roo, it was an hour or two that I was away from you." Brooke explained like it was obvious.

"Torturous was it?" Haley wondered.

"Always is when we're not together." Brooke answered, causing Haley's smile to get bigger.

"Aww," Haley gushed, leaning forward and kissing Brooke quickly. "You're the sweetest."

"Only with you." Brooke told her. "Because you're special."

"So are you. To me you are."

"Yeah?"

"Don't you know that already?" Haley asked. "Every day's a good day with you Brooke. Anytime I'm with you I'm happy."

"Ditto." Brooke replied, leaning in for another kiss, that lasted longer this time. Her hand reached up and ran softly across Haley's face and into her hair, pulling her closer.

"Guys are you coming down or what? We're waiting!" Taylor's voice yelled up into the room, stopping them.

"Yeah Tay, we'll be down in a second." Haley yelled back to her sister.

"Your sister and her timing. Seriously, does she wait for us to start and then just spring on us?" Brooke wondered, exasperated, she'd lost count how many times this had happened.

"I have no clue, I really don't," Haley replied, standing up. "Come on we should get going." she said with a smile, reaching out for Brooke's hand, which she gave gladly. Pulling Brooke up, Haley brought her to her and kissed her on last time before they headed off to meet Taylor and Peyton, who were impatiently waiting for them to get there asses down and out the door.

"Finally!" Peyton exclaimed.

"Oh hush!" Haley exclaimed right back.

"Guys before this turns out into a fully fledged bitch fight, need I remind you that we have reservations?" Brooke pointed out.

"Oh yeah," Peyton realised. "We'll save the fight for later huh, Hales?" she joked, flinging her arm over Haley's shoulders, following Brooke and Taylor as they headed out the door.

"Yeah, there's always later," Haley agreed.

"Oh yeah, before I forget," Peyton began. "Why the hell was there a shoe in the damn refrigerator?" she asked, the door closing behind her.

**xxxx**

The soft notes of the music and the gentle glow of the lights gave the restaurant an almost tranquil feel. Peyton mentally patted herself on the back for such a good choice. The restaurant in itself wasn't busy or overly crowded, looking around their was only three or four other tables filled, secluded in there own space.

"This is nice," Brooke commented.

"I have to agree, it really is. Good choice Peyton." Taylor remarked.

"Yeah Peyton, I have to say I really like it as well." Haley spoke up, agreeing with the other two.

"Thanks," Peyton replied with a smile. "I was lucky though, I closed my eyes and pointed. Got this and hey presto, what a result." she explained, as three pair of eyes looked at her in surprise. "What?" she asked with a sheepish grin.

"You're one in a million P. Sawyer," Brooke let her know.

"And you're my budding side kick."

"I'm nobody's side kick, I'm the leader. I lead hundreds of Tree Hill student's everyday. I can't help it if all the guys want me and all the girls want to be me."

"Ok, ok you're no one's side kick," Peyton relented. "Nobody could put up with your constant talking anyway, so that resulted in you getting the boot from side kick school." she finished with a snigger.

"One of the saddest day's of my life," Brooke joked.

"There, there Tigger," Haley soothed, patting Brooke's shoulder. "The pain will lessen eventually."

"I hope it does Roo, but the pain is so hurtful, it hurts my heart just thinking about that fateful day." Brooke exaggerated.

"You guys are all crazy," Taylor pointed out. "You do know that right?"

"And by association, you are too Tay. You can't hang and not be. It just wouldn't be right." Peyton pointed out herself.

"Damn, I am aren't I?"

"Yup big sis, you complete the craziness that is our little gang." Haley spoke up. "How does it feel?"

"Fan-freakin'-tastic! I hear the Mental Institution getting my bed ready already."

"You can hear that from here?" Peyton asked in awe. "Damn can we swap ears? Mine are said to be cute, but I want yours!"

"Sorry Pey, but I'm attached to these things yanno? Can't be swapping them every damn second can I?" Taylor asked rhetorically. "Then what if someone wanted my leg or something like that, I'd have to give them it, cause I gave you my ears."

"Yeah, but we're swapping. It's not like I'd take your ears and then not give you my own."

"You know I think I saw something like this on the Twilight Channel." Brooke pointed out, directing her question to Haley.

"Yeah me too." Haley agreed.

"Seriously? About ear swapping?" Taylor asked them interested, looking there way, much like Peyton was doing as well.

"No," Brooke told them both. "This was about two inmates, who were so beyond crazy they could only talk to each other. It was touching really, that these two managed to find each other. Now here we have it again." she finished, smiling, as she saw Taylor's playful glare.

Before the conversation could digress any further it was saved by the waiter appearing at there table ready to take there order. Each took there turn, Taylor, Brooke, Peyton and Haley. When the waiter had finished he left as quickly as he had came. Leaving three faces looking at a certain James sister.

"I can't believe you. You come to a restaurant like this and order that. Are you crazy?"

"Yeah are you, cause you so could have made that at home."

"I don't know you guys, I mean she only ordered what she likes right? What's wrong with that?"

"Thank you Brooke," Haley told her. "Come on guys, it's to die for, I couldn't not order it." she pointed out.

"But macaroni and cheese?" Peyton questioned.

"It's the food of God's man."

"Yeah if you're a kid." Taylor pointed out.

"Then I'm a kid and damn proud of it." Haley let them all know.

"Can you remember the first time you ever tried macaroni and cheese, Haley-bub?" Taylor asked her sister.

"Uh," Haley began, thinking back to her younger days, but came up with nothing. "I can't say I do Tay."

"You were six and I was looking after you for the night. Mom and dad were out with friends, for what seemed the hundredth time that week, and who was I to give up the chance to look after my favourite little sis? But that night all you were doing was crying for mom."

_"Haley would you be quiet? Please? For your big, bestest sis?" Taylor begged, her ears were sore listening to her little sister cries._

_"No!" Haley whined, her brown eyes full of tears threatening to fall. "I want mommy!" she almost yelled, with a quivering lip._

_"Sweetie, I know you want mommy, but mommy and daddy are out right now. I'm watching you, won't that be fun?" Taylor reasoned._

_"Maybe," was Haley's unsure answer. "But why does mommy keep leaving me, doesn't she want to be with me?" _

_"No silly!" Taylor told her with a smile, ruffling Haley's hair. "Mom loves being with you, you're her baby." _

_"Really?"_

_"Really, really. Do you want to know the truth?" Taylor asked her with a sigh, hoping her answer would put Haley's thoughts to rest._

_"Yes." _

_"It's my fault, I told mom I wanted to spend more time with my favourite sister ever, and she told me that I could look after you most of this week. I told her that would be great, because what more fun could I have than looking after you? I just thought that I could find out what my little sister is up to when I'm not around."_

_"You wanted to spend more time with me?" _

_"Of course! I wouldn't be here if I didn't, would I?" _

_"No, you wouldn't." Haley answered, with a small smile._

_"Hey Hales?" Taylor asked, kneeling down on to the floor._

_"Yeah?" _

_"Can I get a hug? I haven't had a Haley hug in forever." Taylor asked opening her arms, that was filled seconds later with Haley. "Ah, it's just like I remembered it." Taylor told Haley, pulling her closer to her._

_"Yeah," Haley agreed. "You're still stinky as usual." she told Taylor with a laugh._

_"Why you little terror!" Taylor exclaimed, dropping her arms from around Haley and glaring at her. "Do you know who I feel coming?" _

_"No!" Haley exclaimed her eyes wide._

_"Yes! I can't stop it this time Hay, you better run quick!" Taylor warned her, her fingers moving. "It's starting Haley! Tickling Taylor is coming to get you! She's coming...she's...she's here!" _

_"No!" Haley exclaimed again, rushing around the kitchen counter, trying to get away. Turning back she realised her attempt to escape wasn't any good as she saw Tickling Taylor gain up on her and scoop her up into her arms._

_"You thought you could get away did you?" Taylor asked putting on a voice. "I, Tickling Taylor the best tickler of all time will not be defeated." she gloated, carrying Haley into the living room and plopping her down onto the sofa. "Do you have any last wishes?" she asked Haley, who shook her head from side to side. "Let the tickling begin!" Taylor exclaimed, jumping onto the sofa and attacking Haley's sides, causing her to laugh loud. _

_"Tay...Taylor! Stop! Stop, please!" Haley begged._

_"I can't hear you, what did you say?" Taylor asked, continuing her tickling._

_"Stop!" Haley yelled._

_"You know what to do, Haley-bub." _

_"But Taylor..." _

_"Come on, you can do it." _

_"Fine," Haley huffed. "Taylor James, my big sister, is that smartest, amazing-est girl in this world. When I grow up I wish to be just like her, but that will never happen, because I'm a snot-faced brat that annoys her. But I will try, because I love her." she finished, which caused Taylor to stop and smile down at her._

_"You changed the end." Taylor pointed out._

_"Yeah well, I though 'But I will try, because I love her.' sounded better than just 'But I will try.' Don't you think?" _

_"I totally think so." Taylor agree, getting up off of the sofa, reaching for Haley's hand and walking back to the kitchen. "Pull up a seat Hales, I'm gonna make you my speciality." _

_"What's your speciality?" Haley asked pulling herself up onto the kitchen stool, watching as Taylor pulled out a box from the cupboard._

_"Macaroni and Cheese."_

"So you were the one that started it." Haley stated.

"Yes I did. Although with the amount you eat nowadays I almost wish I didn't."

"I gotta get you something that says _'Thanks for starting me on my mac and cheese addiction.' _But what?"

"Anything but macaroni and cheese."

"I'll think of something." Haley promised, before the waiter came with the food, setting it in front of them.

There dinner was enjoyable, not only had Peyton picked a pretty decent looking place to eat, but the food tasted great as well. Especially the macaroni and cheese, which Haley had praised vigorously. There conversations with each other consisted of mundane, everyday things, from what had happened at school and tv shows. And when the conversation lulled between the four, which happened rarely, all Taylor and Peyton had to do was look at each other and come up with a weird subject, that had all four of them laughing at the craziness of it.

"Guys that was great." Brooke told them.

"It was." Taylor agreed.

"Totally yummy." Haley and Peyton agreed at the same time.

"Ok Pey," Brooke began. "You've already converted Taylor to your crazy way of thinking, leave Haley out of it."

"And leave her to be corrupted by you? I think not!" Peyton retorted.

"Oh yea' of little faith, I haven't corrupted anyone since 6th grade." Brooke rebutted, causing the others to laugh.

"On that note, Peyton join me in the bathroom please."

"Anything you wish ma' lady." Peyton agreed, getting up and following Taylor.

"This is nice huh? Just the four of us." Haley asked.

"Yeah it is," Brooke agreed. "But as much as I love Peyton and your sister, it would have been nicer if it was just the both of us." Brooke told her, her hand reaching under the table and clasping together with Haley's. "Maybe we can come back, just the two of us. What do you say?" she wondered with a smile.

"I'd love that." Haley let her know, squeezing Brooke's hand, trailing her thumb over the top, moving it back and forth.

"I would to. Or I'd take you for a picnic, and I'd make you mac and cheese, I'm not saying it would be any good, but I'd make it for you."

"That's cause you define the word sweet. I've yet to find anyone sweeter than you."

"Don't let it out, or else my reputation at school is gonna hit rock bottom." Brooke told her with a smile.

"Is your reputation really that important?" Haley wondered.

"Not when I'm with you, no." Brooke answered, causing Haley to smile at her.

"How'd I get so lucky to be with you?"

"Karma? I know you had a heck of a lot of good, coming your way."

"Could be. Or maybe it's fate."

"Aren't they ust the same thing?"

"Nearly, but not quite, though, fate and destiny are said to be the same." Haley told her.

"How about we put it down to all three, some karma, and mostly destiny and fate? I'd like to think that some way in this crazy world we were destined to be together." Brooke reasoned.

"I like the sound of that."

"Hey guys," Peyton spoke, heading towards there table. "My dad called while I was in the bathroom and he's home. I hate to cut this short, but I'm gonna have to leave."

"Yeah, and I'm gonna catch a ride with her, cause I left a cd over at Peyton, the last time I was over." Taylor let them know.

"Oh, well is there anything wrong with him? Do you want me come with you?" Brooke asked, her protectiveness of her best friend coming through.

"No, he's fine, I just haven't seen him in forever. You and Haley stay here, enjoy the rest of dinner. Here's my half," Peyton explained, while reaching into her jean pocket and pulling out some money and flinging it onto the table, which was followed by Taylor own money as well.

"Hope that covers mine as well."

"Bye guys." Peyton spoke and just as quickly as she had come back she was gone, with Taylor in tow.

"Well, that was a little abrupt." Brooke pointed out.

"It was." Haley agreed. "On the plus side, it's just us, like you wanted."

"I'm having all the luck tonight huh? Or is that karma?"

"Who knows, but judging by the money they both left, they've covered us as well as themselves." Haley told her with a wide grin.

"I wonder what the dearest desert is?" Brooke wondered.

"I have no clue, but we're ordering it, it's not like we can't afford it." Haley let her know with a laugh, causing Brooke to smile.

So they ordered.

**xxxx**

"Peyton, would you move!"

"You move Taylor!"

"No, you!"

"Why do I gotta move?"

"Cause I can't see over your damn blonde curls! Now, either move your head outta the way or else your head is going in that puddle in front of us!" Taylor threatened.

"Yeesh, Tay chill. No need to get violent!" Peyton exclaimed.

"I've told you to move like ten times but you wouldn't! So sue me already!" Taylor answered exasperated.

"Like I want anything you have. I'm sorry two dollars and a hair brush isn't anything to sue over."

"Hey, I'll have you know I've had that hair brush since I was 12, it's priceless!"

"Yeah but it's bound to be gross right?"

"Eww no, you think I'd kept it if it was all gross?"

"I have no idea. You could."

"Well, I don't keep a gross hair brush, got it?"

"Yeah I got it," Peyton answered with a laugh. "Yanno I thought it'd take much longer to get you mad at me. But 10 minutes in and here we are. You, Ms. Grumpy Pants and me, perfect as usual."

"Wait, this was a game?"

"Yeah," Peyton replied with a smile.

"You're a bitch you know that right?"

"It has been said."

"So will you move you head now?" Taylor wondered.

"Sure, we can't miss them coming out now can we?" Peyton answered, moving her head as promised, so Taylor could see.

"How long do you think they'll be in there for?" Taylor asked her.

"Well, we left half an hour ago, found your _great_ hiding space, so I don't know another 20 minutes?" Peyton guessed.

"Swing and a miss for the rookie, look, there they are." Taylor let Peyton know, pointing out her sister and Brooke as they walked out of the restaurant.

"Do they look couply?" Peyton asked, they didn't to her.

"Nope they don't," Taylor answered with a sigh. "You know maybe we should give this a break, it doesn't look like they're going to get with the program and get together. And I just wasted fifty bucks!"

"You did? I did to Taylor!" Peyton exclaimed. "Maybe if we had better ideas and stuff, it would help, don't you think?"

"I don't know, do you think anything would get through to them? They seem oblivious to it all." Taylor told her blonde friend.

"That's Brooke for you." Peyton remarked with a laugh.

"Yeah, you got that in one." Taylor agreed, smiling.

"What are they doing?" Peyton wondered, squinting a little to get a better look at what Brooke and Haley were up to.

"I don't know I haven't been looking, cause you've been talking." Taylor pointed out, expecting Peyton to answer, but there was none. "Peyton?"

"Oh, my god." Peyton sounded out, sounding a little dumbfounded.

"What?" Taylor wondered, not having the slightest clue as to what Peyton was going on about. She was seconds away from asking her question again, when she felt a hand on her face, obviously Peyton's, guiding her to where she was looking. Looking ahead almost had her on her butt. Brooke and her sister kissing. Brooke _and _her sister kissing? Had she missed something? Sure this was supposed to be the end result of there plan, but they were kissing now? She had definitely missed something, and from the looks of Peyton, she had had missed it as well. Maybe it was just a goodnight kiss...thought goodnight kisses usually didn't last that long. Had they been together before all this planning had started? It seemed like a pretty good guess to her.

Taylor and Peyton weren't the only ones to have witnessed what was happening between Haley and Brooke either. Nathan had been sick and tired sitting around his home listening to his parents argue with each other. Sure he hadn't expected taking a walk, at night, around Tree Hill would be all that exciting. Boy had he been wrong. Smiling he continued to watch, this was going to be fun, Haley's life and Brooke's as well, were gonna be hell from now on in if he had anything to do about it. He would teach Brooke who was boss, thinking she would get away with hurting him, how wrong she was, and Haley, oh how he was going to enjoy every moment from here on in. Just thinking about it brought a sick smirk to his face. Walking down the street he almost had a skip to his step.

"Well, huh, they aren't that oblivious are they?" Peyton spoke up, after watching Brooke and Haley walk away, hand in hand towards Brooke's car.

"It appears not." Taylor mused, her mind finally catching up with her. "They're together." she stated, obviously.

"They are." Peyton agreed, with a smile.

"They've been playing us haven't they. They've been together way before we even realised it." Taylor stated with a smirk. She had to give her sister credit, she never knew she was good at keeping a secret and a secret from her no less. That was like the biggest rule in the sisterhood hand book, 'Thou shalt not lie to your sister,' and Haley had, and succeed at that. She must've passed something onto her little sister after all.

"We have to get them you know? Till they have to tell us they're together."

"Oh yeah, I totally agree, it's a must." Taylor agreed, smirking.

"You wanna head over to my house and we can think of ways to get them back?"

"As much fun as that would be, i'll pass, I'm gonna head home." Taylor told her.

"You want me to run you?" Peyton wondered.

"It's a nice night, and as crazy as it might sound I'm gonna walk home."

"Are you feeling alright?" Peyton asked with a laugh.

"I'm fine, walkings supposed to be good for you, you know." Taylor joked.

"If you pass out half way home, you have your cell right?"

"Front pocket. Now get home!" Taylor ordered with a smile.

"Yes ma'am." Peyton replied, hugging Taylor before heading towards where she parked her car. "Call me?"

"You can bet on it." Taylor yelled, heading along the sidewalk, getting lost in her thoughts. Today head been a good day and tonight had been interesting if anything. She wondered how she was going to get Haley to actually admit to her and Brooke being together. She had a few idea, that she almost hoped won't work, because this was no doubt going to be fun.

Should he leave it for a bit, knowing there secret, letting it simmer till it boiled over or should he just tell Haley that he knew and let the games begin? The decisions he had before him, but what fun decisions they were. He had struck gold and he was going to cash in. He wasn't sure whether or not to let her know that he knew straight away or not, but he had all the time in the world. Yes, Nathan Scott would be King of his world again, with Haley by his side as his Queen, whether she liked it or not. The ball was in his court now, and he was going to use it to his advantage.

He was jolted out his thoughts as his body collided with a much smaller one, but it stopped him in his tracks. Looking at her, he gave her one of his charming smiles and offered an apology, if he wasn't so infatuated with Haley he would have given his best lines to her as well, but she was no Haley in his opinion.

Walking on after her incident with the boy she had literally bumped into, Taylor smiled as her thoughts continued, about what she was going to do to Haley and Brooke, but her smiled froze and her steps faltered though as his face flashed in front of her again. She knew him, how did she know him? Closing her eyes she tried to picture where and when they were together and almost like a freight train had smacked into her and sending her on her ass for the second time that night she remembered. She remember. It was a stupid party, she was drunk and he was drunk. Oh god she knew how she knew Nathan Scott, now. She had slept with him.

She had slept with the boy who had hurt her sister. Now she knew who he was. He was going to regret the day he ever touched her. No one hurt her little sister. No one.

**End of Chapter 13 **

**xxxx**

So there you have it, I hope you liked it. I'd appreciate it if you leave a review D that'd be nice, so feel free to.


	14. Chapter 14

**Author's Note - **Wow an update? No you're not seeing thing, it is an actual update. Sorry it's been so long, but I've had computer problems, lame excuse I know, but oh so true. Anyway, I hope you all enjpy this chapter, since it's been a long time coming.

**Disclaimer - ** Not mine, never mine, terribly sad!

**xxxx**

**Chapter 14 - The Blossom Had Already Begun to Fall, Becoming Smudged and Formless Colors...and So Delight Had Become Delirium.**

Sitting in a room surrounded by mostly people she didn't know and a select few that she recognised vaguely, unnerved her. The silence of the room wasn't comfortable and relaxed, nor was it uncomfortable and tense either, it was just silent, like a deserted building, where you could listen for miles and not even hear a bird chirp or the rustle of the tree's. Why she was here, was oblivious to her. What kind of place was this anyway? Did anyone else not know why they were here, or was that honour saved especially for her? These sort of questions filtered through her mind. Questions she couldn't answer, yet she asked anyway.

Releasing a heavy breath, she was seconds away from getting up and walking out, when the light dimmed, giving off an almost mysterious atmosphere. The chills she had been having earlier, came back more frequently than before and she realised this wasn't a place she wanted to be. On first impressions anyway.

"Ok, gentlemen and ladies, girls and boys, you all know why you're here don't you?" a voice bellowed into the dank, murky room, the words vibrating off of the hard, cold walls and echoing back and assaulting the ears of everyone in the room.

"I...I, don't quiet know why I'm here," her voice spoke out, almost meekly into the once again silent room.

"You don't know why you're here?" the voice questioned, a woman, it appeared to be as she stepped out of the shadow, that seemed to have cloaked her, like she was the shadow itself. "You're Haley James, if I'm not mistaken?" the woman questioned again, looking at a list that had suddenly appeared in front of her. "You attend Tree Hill High School, where you tutor students to help them achieve a better education. This was a result of a test you once cheated on. Your best friend is Lucas Scott and you have known him since you were able to walk. Shall I go on?" the almost robotic voice wondered.

"No, I know everything about me." Haley answered, wondering why in the hell this unknown women seemed to know everything about her as well. "But that still doesn't answer why I'm here."

"Oh, that's simple," the woman answered her face transforming with a smile. "You're here, because of your infatuation with Brooke Davis. Just like everyone else is."

"Oh." Haley answered dumbly.

"Shall we start?" the woman addressed the room, receiving a chorus of 'yes' as her answer and continued. "Why don't you start."

"My name's Adam and I'm a Brooke-aholic."

"My name is Rachel and I'm a Brooke-aholic too."

"Russ, also a Brooke-aholic."

"Matt, one of the many Brooke-aholic's"

And so it went on, boy, girl, boy, girl, girl, girl, boy, boy, boy. To Haley, it seemed never ending, was there really that many Brooke-aholics? She knew people envied Brooke, lusted after and wanted to be her, but this was something new. She had never heard of a Brooke Anonymous club before. Did Brooke know about this?

_Know about it, _Haley snickered to herself silently,_ she probably started it._

"Dear, I know you're new, but try to keep up. It's your turn."

"I'm Haley and I'm a Brooke-aholic." It was the truth, ever since they had got together, all she did was drink, sleep and breath while thinking about Brooke. She was intoxicating, in a good way. It was always good with Brooke, no bad ever seemed to get in.

"Now that we've all had our turn, why don't we start with the new girl," the woman began, turning to Haley. "Haley, why don't you tell us why you're a Brooke-aholic." It was more of a statement than a question.

"There's a lot of reasons, it's not that easy to explain. I mean she's Brooke you know? That in itself is pretty huge. It's not often you can just explain your feelings by saying _'It's Brooke.' _But she _is_ Brooke and that's half of what make's her great. The other half, I haven't quite worked out yet, but when I do I know it's gonna be amazing. Because Brooke is that as well, amazing. Granted, I could go through all the things that she is, but it's pretty obvious, I'd just be wasting my breath telling you. She doesn't do what you expect her to do, she's does the complete opposite, that's what I like about her, well one of the many things. I like the things that make her Brooke. Like her five smiles, four if you take away her smirk, and three if you take away her fake smile, but unlike her smirk that is actually a smile, so I guess like her four smiles and her smirk. But five smiles sounds better, so I'm sticking with that." Haley babbled on, without taking a breath, her mouth suddenly taking control. "Then when she's nervous, which isn't all that often, she fidgets, she can't sit still, she's either crossing and uncrossing her legs or twirling her thumbs. No matter what she won't sit still, it's like there's a million and one mexican jumping beans inside her and she's doing it involuntary, and then there's..."

"Haley dear, take a breath."

"...uh yeah, I like Brooke, I guess that's why I'm dating her."

Ok, now _this _was an uncomfortable silence. What did she say wrong?

"Dating? Brooke Davis?"

"Yeah, that would appear to be what we're doing. Shocker huh?" Haley said with a hint of sarcasm.

"That just isn't possible. Brooke Davis doesn't date."

"She doesn't?" Haley questioned with wide eyes. "So, what have I been doing with her for the past couple of weeks? Having tea and a scone?"

"Well, the word delousional, springs to mind," a voice called out, followed by murmurs of agreement.

"Yeah, well thinking you _ever_ had a chance with Brooke, makes you more delousional than I ever was." Haley bit back.

"Ok dear, retract the claws, this is a meeting, not a riot," the woman stated.

"Oh so it's all right for everyone else to gang up on _me, _but when I say something, it's not ok? Am I understanding things right?" Haley asked defensively.

"Well, to be honest, you are sounding crazy sweetheart, we are justified," said the lady.

"Justified?" Haley repeated. "Justified, you're kidding me right?"

"Proof would be good," a voice called out.

"Proof, you want proof?" Haley asked. "Brooke has a scar on her knee," she let them know.

"That only proves you've been looking extra hard at her in the shower," a voice remarked.

"She's had it since she was eight, her pool was getting built and she thought it would be fun to run around in the big hole, except she fell, and when she fell she landed on a jagged brick. She cried for hours, the blood had ruined her favourite sneakers." Haley elaborated further.

"You could have over heard her telling that to anyone," someone pointed out.

Glaring at everyone, Haley smirked. "Kissing her is like heaven, it's almost like you're floating."

"You've kiss...kissed her," another voice choked out.

"Of course I have," Haley answered. "There's no way that I wouldn't."

"Haley?"

"What? It's the truth!"

"Haley?"

"It is! I'm dating Brooke Davis!"

"Haley!"

Jerking up into a sitting position, Haley looked around her bedroom. She wasn't here seconds ago, why was she now? Where did all the people go? Not that she liked them anyway, they were mean. Yes, mean, that's what they were, like it was so hard to believe that she was dating Brooke. Granted, now that her brain had time to clear, she realised that it probably did seem kind of far-fetched. Smiling to herself, she knew that it wasn't.

"Do you talk in your sleep a lot Roo, I've never noticed before." Brooke wondered. "Looked like you were having a funky dream."

"It was about you." Haley told her, smiling as she saw Brooke's face light up, then laughing when Brooke jumped onto her bed, making it bounce, trying to sit next to her.

"Details, please?" Brooke demanded, taking Haley's hand in her own, entwining there fingers.

"It was weird really, I was in this room with all these people, and they were all Brooke-aholic's."

"Brooke-aholic's?" Brooke questioned.

"Like a shop-aholic, just like you. Except, instead of everyone loving shopping, they were infatuated with you. I didn't like them at all."

"Heh, that's neat!" Brooke said, grinning. "Can you just imagine everyone bowing before me, worshiping me. That would be the life."

"Yeah, super." Haley replied, obviously thinking the opposite.

"Don't worry Hales, if I was being worshipped, there's only one person I would want at my side." Brooke told her.

"Brad Pitt?" Haley guessed.

"Eww, no, he's like forty." Brooke answered, scrunching her nose up. "You silly, I'd want you," she let Haley know, leaning over and kissing her. "Yup, never get tired of that. Not even a little."

"Good, at least I know I'm not doing it wrong." Haley joked.

"Never, but, it never hurt to practice, did it?" Brooke pointed out, pulling Haley with her, as she fell back onto the bed.

**xxxx**

"I can't believe you made us late!" Brooke laughed as she and Haley rushed to lunch.

"Me? I so did not make us late!" Haley protested, with a smile. "You were the one that found the empty classroom!"

"What did you say again?" Brooke pondered, thinking. "Oh yeah, I remember; _'Five more minutes Brooke, lunch last's a whole hour, what's five minutes of that? I mean, what would you rather do, go eat lunch, in a crowded, noisy lunchroom or stay here with me, in an empty classroom.' _Yeah, that's what it was."

"Hey! I didn't hear you complaining one bit!" Haley pointed out.

"Yeah, well duh! Like i'm ever gonna say no to that," Brooke told Haley, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "I mean, if you were me and I was you, would you?"

"Pass up the opportunity of spending time with you, kissing you, being with you in general?" Haley questioned to which Brooke nodded. "No chance in hell."

"So therefore, it was your idea and you made us late!" Brooke pointed out, triumphant.

"Nuh uh! I only said five minutes, and you made it last thirty!" Haley rebutted playfully.

"Well yeah," Brooke agreed with a laugh. "And what a fun thirty minutes it was."

"Oh, yeah," Haley agreed, pushing the doors to cafeteria open.

"We're here now, aren't we?" Brooke pointed out.

"Yeah, Tigger, with a whole twenty-five minutes left of lunch. Go get a table and I'll bring us something to eat." Haley told her, walking towards the lunch line.

"Haley," Brooke shouted. "Don't get me any..."

"...any Mac and Cheese, I know, I know, you're sick of it!" Haley called over her shoulder, finishing Brooke's sentence.

Smiling Brooke went to find a table, she spotted her normal table and there would no doubt be room for her if she went to join her friends, but she just wanted it to be Haley and her today. It had been since Haley had woken up, and she wanted to keep it that way. Spotting an empty table in the masses of bodies Brooke made her way to it, claiming it as her own, getting there before the others who were making there way to it. Looking up she spotted Haley waiting in line, it'd be about five minutes before she even got served food. Sighing, she leaned forward and rested her head in her hands, and looked out at the people around her. She did this on occasion, people watched, just when she was alone, surprisingly she was good at reading people.

Her view was blocked by a pair of legs, now that was just rude. Looking up, who she saw surprised her, had she been drinking anything at this moment in time, she surely would have choked on it.

"What do you want?"

"Well, Brooke there's a lot of things I want in life, but mostly, I want my Haley back." Nathan told her with a smile, pulling out a chair and sitting on it.

"Like that's ever gonna happen." Brooke snarked at him. "And please do sit down, I'm sure the invitation I gave you was oblivious to me."

"I won't take up much of your time, this shouldn't take long." Nathan let her know, still smiling, it was starting to unnerve Brooke.

"Actually if you leave right now, I'd be super happy, I mean you wouldn't like me to let slip to Lucas, about what you did to Haley would you?" Brooke told him.

"Oh, I don't think you'll let that happen Brooke, infact I know you won't." Nathan explained to her.

"Do prey tell, how that is ever going to happen?" Brooke questioned, watching as Nathan moved forward, until he was inches away from her.

"I know your secret Brooke Davis," he whispered.

"My secret? Wow, what power you hold over me, look at me shaking. So, I still like The Spice Girls, big whoop." Brooke told him, frowning when she heard Nathan laugh.

"Oh no, not that one," he told her. "You really should be more careful who you kiss, on sidewalks at night. You never know who's watching."

"Wha..."

"You know outside, Artemis last night. That was you and Haley wasn't it?" Nathan question, already knowing the answer. "To say I was shocked, is an understatement. But now I can use it to my advantage. Now I can get Haley back."

"No, you _think_ you can get Haley back." Brooke stated. "See, I don't care if you tell the whole of the school, that me and Haley are together, I'll still be with her. So go ahead Nate, do your worst, see if I care." she told him, showing him there was no way that she was backing down.

"You think, I was going to tell the whole school? No Brooke, far from it. I know how much you care about her now. A lot more than I thought you did before." Nathan said to her. "She's your weakness and rightfully so, we have that in common. But if you don't stop what you're doing with her, I will make her life a living hell, and in turn yours as well. Two birds, one stone. You have no idea what i'm capable of Brooke, I surpass the simpleness of starting a rumour. You've seen my handy work already. I mean would you really like to drive to school with Haley and find out that the brakes are cut? Or how about, arranging to meet her somewhere and not having her turn up. I can do that, I will do that, if you don't stop." Nathan threatened her.

"You're crazy you know that, right?"

"I passed crazy when she left me, you have no idea what I am now." Nathan let her know.

"What am I meant to do?" Brooke asked, giving in. She would rather have Haley safe, even if it did mean giving her up. But would she really be safe, she would be alone, Nathan could get her at anytime. He'd already proved that he was capable of it.

Smiling, Nathan stood up. "When she comes over, end it, I don't care how you do it, just make sure it's done. I'll be watching." he finished, walking over to another empty table, his view of Brooke perfect.

He was the world's biggest assclown, that was what Brooke was thinking, he really was. She couldn't just do that to Haley, she couldn't. But if she didn't...god she didn't even want to think about that. Nathan was a certified nut job, there was no doubt in her mind that he wouldn't do what he said he would. Looking up, she saw him and the urge to smack him grew, seeing him sit there with his sick smirk. But she had no choice, she'd have to do what Nathan told her, it was the best for Haley, at least that's what she told herself.

"You were in luck, there was only one Macaroni and Cheese left and I snagged it, I just couldn't say no. I think it's an addiction. A good addiction, but an addiction nonetheless." Haley babbled, smiling as she placed the food she had got down in front of Brooke, taking a seat next to her.

Jerking back into her seat, Brooke looked at Haley, she hadn't even heard her coming. How could she walk away from her, and never see that smile again, Haley had a beautiful smile, she got lost in it all the time, it always reached her eyes and she didn't want to make that stop and she would if she did this.

"Yummy." Brooke answered, her tone distracted.

"There wasn't a great selection to chose from, seeing as someone made us so late, but I took what I could get." Haley smiled, joking.

"Haley," Brooke breathed as she began. "I think you're great."

"Aww, thanks Brooke." Haley gushed. "I think you're great too."

"I think you're great," Brooke repeated again, hating herself already for what she was about to do. "That's why I need to talk to you just now."

Sighing, Haley turned to look at Brooke, "Why do I get the feeling that I'm not going to like what you're about to say?"

"Because you're not." Brooke told her. "I don't know how to do this Haley, I _don't _want to do this, but I have to."

"Do what? It can't be that bad."

"Oh, but it is." Brooke answered with a weary laugh. Not thirty minutes ago, she was happily, in an empty classroom, kissing Haley, now she was far from happy. And the reason for that was sitting two tables away smirking right back at her. He was more like his father than he knew. "I can't do us anymore, I can't be with you." she finally blurted out. "I'm sorry but I can't, I would love to but I can't, and I know this is such a crappy explanation, but it's the best I've got right now. I'm sorry Haley, really sorry." Brooke finished, standing up abruptly, her chair squeaking across the tiled floor. "I'm really sorry." she whispered, before hurrying out of the cafeteria.

What had just happened? She couldn't do this, she couldn't be with her anymore? Ok, what alternate dimension had she possibly stepped into, in the ten minutes she had been away from Brooke. This really wasn't making sense. Had she missed something. Was this some big joke? No, she dismissed that thought instantly, Brooke wasn't like that, she wouldn't do something like that.

Getting up from where she sat, Haley hurried out of the cafeteria and headed after Brooke. Not noticing Nathan's eyes following her every movement.

"Brooke!" Haley yelled, seeing her hurrying up ahead, and then faltering as she heard her name being called, only to carry on, ignoring Haley.

Hurrying after her, she would have caught her if the school bell hadn't rung signaling the end of lunch, filling the hallway full of students heading to class. She reached the outside of the school only to see Brooke drive away in her car.

What the hell was going, that's all she wanted to know.

**End of Chapter 14.**

**There you go, wasn't a happy chapter was it? Review please :) And I'll hopefully have the next chapter a lot sooner than I had this, I already have the next chapter figured out.**

**Bye.**


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N - **An actual update!...**rubs eyes**...Nope I'm not seeing things, it is a update! I blame college, it's been a full time thing!...**glares**...I hate it! But enough of my excuses, thanks for the reviews, as always they warm my heart at night, and really who would want a cold heart, that would just suck...cause you'd be like shivering all the time! So review and keep my heart warm! Yes, you must!...nods...Pwease?

**Disclaimer - **Ain't never gonna happen, so why do I put this here? Because I don't want my ass sued! I mean it's not likely that they would get anything, cause I'm broke, and I have nothing but this laptop and story, a few unfinished stories that are in development, my One Tree Hill dvds and...**reaches into pockets and pulls out dust mites**...Damn thought I had something in there :( So as you can clearly see, I have nothing, but my precious belongings that ain't nobody ever gonna get!

So read on and be merry!

**xxxx**

**Chapter 15 - Tempted Champions, Return to Chaos - Hide and Seek Redemption for there Woes, but Often Seek Solace in Deserted Woods, With Nothing but there Inner Musing's, too Comfort One.**

She hadn't really moved all that much - she had got home, dragged herself upstairs, fallen into bed and well her she was, the mighty Brooke Davis, reduced to an emotionless shell. She had berated herself over and over again, for the abrupt way she had ended it with Haley. Not that she wanted to, that was the last thing she had _ever_ planned on doing. Why? Because she had never been happier than when she was with Haley, kissing her, holding her, just simply being near her in general. And she had given that up. But she had to, right? If she hadn't, then Nathan would have done what he said he would, and she was not about to let Haley get hurt again. _Granted, leaving her without a clue as to why I ended things, must of cause her so much joy. _Sighing, she decided she hated the voice inside her head, only because it told the truth and right now more than anything, she wanted to hide from it. _I don't suppose there's any place I could go, and hide from all of this? That would be perfect, a place where my thoughts and musing's and more importantly the truth are banished at the door. _Now this voice was more to her liking, yeah, she liked what it had to say. But in reality, there was no perfect hiding place, no escape, no nothing and that made her feel like the worst person in the world right now. Oh, how the mighty had fallen.

Haley had called her, once, twice, so many time that she lost count. But, Brooke guess that after about the twentieth time, Haley had finally given in, because there was no ringing after that and her room had become eerily silent. She almost wished that the ringing would start up again, just so she could hear something other than her own ragged breathing. She guessed that was down to her earlier cry fest, from when she had reached her room and fallen onto her bed, where the tears had just started, like endless raindrops from the sky. Now, though she was all cried out, such a contrast to her earlier state. Her eyes were red and raw, bloodshot in appearance; like she had gone a whole week without sleep, she was sure more than anything, her hair was a wild mess; that resembled something like a tumble weed rolling across the desert sands, not to mention her throat, there was no doubt that it felt coarse; if she tried to speak, it would come out in such a scratchy way, than no one would understand what she hadsaid anyway and that was only partly why she felt awful, and it was all down to her...and Nathan. How she despised him. She wondered briefly when he had turned into such a deplorable son of a bitch.

Sitting there feeling sorry for herself wasn't going to help, she knew that, but the zest for life she had, had slowly seeped away from her, in a mere few hours. Turning her head, she looked out the window, frowning when she saw that it was still light out. Laying where she was had felt like days, and yet, it couldn't have been. She hated when time played mind games with her, not that it was intentional, and most probably her fault, as many things were as of late, adding to the downward spiral of her life. Guffawing at herself, Brooke couldn't help the sadistic smirk that covered her face, aimed at no one but herself. _Oh, woe is me! Such a downward spiral, and in such a short space of time. Yeah, Brooke, you have got the art form of being over dramatic, down to an almost professional level! Yes, in the space of, oh I don't know, four, maybe five hours, your life sure has flipped upside down. How disastrous. You, know if you're like this, then think about Haley. _But she didn't want to think about Haley, cause that would only hurt more. _Well, I wonder who caused that? Hmm, let me ponder that for a millisecond. Would that be your own damn fault? I do believe so. _She really hated her inner voice, she wondered if other people's were this annoying, if not, then she wanted a replacement. _Yeah, well, I'm not exactly loving who I'm paired with myself. Giving up the one thing that actually made us happy, what are you stupid? _It seemed apparently so. _Wonders wide and far, did I just hear an honest confession? Excuse me, while I pick myself up from on the floor. _And you call me annoying. _I never called you annoying, that would be you, calling me that. I, on the other hand called you stupid, which you are. Brooke, you gave up the only real thing in your life! Haley didn't want you for your money, she didn't care about your popularity, she just wanted to be with you. And you give that up because of Nathan Scott? Yeah, that makes so much sense! _Signing, Brooke realised that sometimes listening to that little voice inside your head, while not altogether the poster child for sanity, was on occasions right. What had she done?

She had to talk to Haley.

Sitting up, she reached over for her bedroom phone, this was one phone call that was long overdue. Her fingers hovered over the numbers below her, why was she stalling now, she knew the digits and the sequence they came in, off by heart. She felt her shoulders slump further into herself, and she knew she was moments from reverting back to the pitiful state she had been in minutes before. She was not willing to let that happen. She wanted, no, she so desperately needed to hear Haley's voice. Picking herself up from what had been her cocoon from the outside world for the past hours, she moved out of her bedroom and made her way to her family living room, again, she had to snort at that saying. _Family living room, that was classic. For it to be a family living room, one had to have a family to share it with. _And as much as Brooke thought of it, she could not remember the last time herself and her parents, had spent enough time in it, for it to count as a family room. Even at Christmas, she had been at Peyton's, she hadn't wanted to wake up to the disappointment of being the only person being in her home, on such a family holiday. _My parents would have to be around for us to do that whole big family thing, wouldn't they? _That wouldn't be happening anytime soon and she knew it, she didn't try to delude herself, her parents cared more about their careers and their status in the hierarchy of what Brooke like to call _'The who's, who of sleeping your way to the top.', _than their own daughter.

Reaching the living room, editing out the word family as it just did not have any merit in her home, Brooke had to squint and shield her eyes from the surprisingly, glaring sun outside. Walking into it had been such a contrast from the darkness her room had been. It took a moment or two for her eyes to adjust to the brightness, but once they had, she walked further into the room and let herself fall down onto the sofa, with an audible sigh. She seemed to be doing that a lot. Sighing. It was getting tiresome, but she couldn't help herself it seemed, they just came upon her all of a sudden. It seemed as though, she'd think of anything to take her mind of the task at hand.

She sat staring at the phone for a few minutes, she felt it was mocking her, in some unimaginable way, which was ridiculous of course. Staring at it wasn't going to make it dial Haley's number, but dialling it would lead to Haley answering it and Haley answering it, would no doubt result in her having to speak to Haley. She couldn't, she was at this moment, the biggest chicken out there, oh, how she hated herself. It was absurd really, she wanted to call Haley, and yet she couldn't bring herself to do it. How, in any world did that make the least bit of sense? She was nothing but a wuss and she the only person she could blame was herse...

What was that ringing?

Oh, God! When had she dialled Haley's number? She didn't even know you could dial a phone, when you weren't even conscious of doing so. But apparently, it could be done, she was demonstrating it at this very moment. _What if she picks up? _That's what you want her to do! _What am I meant to say? 'Oh, yeah about earlier, complete and utter mistake, what in the hell was I thinking? I can't live without you, it's not even been half a day, but I'm already a mess and dying without you.' _Well, actually that sounds pretty good to me. _Shouldn't she have picked up by now? _Uh, yeah.

But she never. The ringing continued on and on, and the droning of the monotone sound only stopped, when the answer machine picked up.

"_Hi, this is the James's residence, three quarters of the James family aren't here, they're either a) road tripping it, in an RV, b) enjoying the stressor of college life, c) being a delinquent to the society we live in, you know who you are, or d) actually having, what passes for social life. If none of those options above are who you are looking for, then I guess you're looking for me, lil' ol' Haley James, except I'm not in either, what are the chances? But, if you'd be so kind to leave a message, then I'll be sure to call you back. You know what to do, so do it after the beep." _

Hearing that beep Brooke, cancelled the call. No one ever wanted to talk to an answering machine, least of all her, and she certainly didn't want to tell Haley, she was sorry over an answer phone, she wasn't that inconsiderate. Hearing the message Haley had left though, had left a ghost of a smile on her face. The message, was such a Haley thing to do, and she loved it.

Dropping the phone beside her, she brought her hand up and brought it across her face, trying desperately to think of where Haley was. Ok, she could do this, she could narrow it down, make the search easier, because by the end of the day, she vowed to herself, she would have explained herself to Haley. Hoping against hope that this stupid event hadn't cause her what she had, had with Haley. Ok, so there was Taylor, Peyton, Lucas and Karen's Cafe. Hadn't she heard through the grape vine that Peyton and Lucas had a thing on tonight? She was sure she had, because she remembered hearing about it and not feeling anything. No hurt, no resentment, no anger, just nothing. So, two of the four were ruled out, which left Taylor and Karen's Cafe. She could be with Taylor, it was more than likely, Taylor hadn't picked up the phone, she could easily be out with her sister. She prayed that Haley wasn't with Taylor though, because if Haley had told her what had happened, then Taylor was going to kick her ass. Kicking of the asses, especially her own, were not her thing, not one bit. Which left Karen's Cafe, and like a clearing of fog and cloudy skies, she remember Haley's work schedule, tonight was indeed a work night. Haley would _never_ miss a night at Karen's, unless she was seriously ill or losing a limb.

Getting up from where she sat, Brooke glanced at the clock on the wall, 6:30 pm. Huh? Glancing outside, it was infact dark, the moon shone in the sky high above her and the stars seemed to twinkle a little rhyme as they lit up the night sky. Had she really been zoning out for so long? She didn't care anymore, Haley would be closing in about an hour. That gave her enough time to look at least presentable when she showed up at Karen's.

She was going to sort this mess, she had made, no matter how long it took. Nathan be damned. She'd find away around him. With her and Haley together again, anything was possible. She saw that now, she was just a little blind earlier.

**xxxx**

Today had been busy, and when the dinner rush had started, Haley welcomed it. It kept her from thinking about things, or to be more exact a certain someone. But now, she had no such luck of being so busy, that she couldn't think, the dinner rush had lulled and now there was nothing. Looking around her, there was three scattered customers around the cafe. An old man, who's name she was sure was Bob, sitting in the far corner, by the window, staring out it, people watching. Or that's what she guessed he was doing anyway, she wasn't exactly certain. At the opposite end there was a middle aged woman, Haley guessed she was thirty something, just sitting sipping coffee. Her business suit was rumpled and there were noticeable creases, but the woman didn't seem to care. In that moment, all she looked like she cared about was her next sip of coffee, slipping down her throat and warming her from the inside out. It seemed to relax her. At the counter, just down from where she was standing, was a boy, who looked fifteen and not a day older, sitting patiently. He was waiting for somebody, obviously. He had finished his soda twenty minutes before, and then afterwards had just sat there, with his head in his hand, off in his own little world.

Oh, how she wished she could be him at this time, with not a care in the world, just sitting back and watching as it pass on by. But alas, that wasn't to be. Not today anyway. The door chimed suddenly, interrupting the serene calm that had settled over the cafe, for the past hour. Haley looked up, her face hopeful, but it fell as she saw another middle aged woman, it wasn't her. The boy turned and gave a quick smile. Picking up his back pack from the floor, he headed from the door, smiling at the woman. When reaching her, the woman's arm found it way around the boys shoulder and her face transformed with a smile as he started talking animatedly about some tale he had experienced today. As the door swung shut behind the boy and what Haley guess was his mother, the voices grew quieter until they were nothing, and once again the cafe descended into another silent, serene calm.

Haley remembered feeling safe in arms, Brooke's arms to be exact. She remembered how it felt to fall asleep in them and how safe she felt during the night, and then to wake up in the same spot she had fallen asleep in. It made her sad to think about things like that. Or Brooke in general. It hurt. She hadn't expected it to hurt this much, but it did. It felt like the weight of a hundred pound truck was on her chest, and she could hardly breath. She was also pretty sure, that if doctor took an x-ray of her chest, they'd see how broken her heart was. It felt like it was broken in two, snapped right down the middle, it's jagged remains puncturing her insides, causing her the pain she felt every second she was away from Brooke.

She was depressing herself, thinking about Brooke, she had to do something. Keep busy. That was how she was going to get through this, work herself into exhaustion, until the pain was numb, and she could rest without feeling the ungodly ache in her heart. Grabbing a cloth from behind the counter, she started wiping it, making it clean.

It was about five minutes after she had first started, that she noticed Karen staring at her. Looking at her, she stopped.

"What?"

"Oh, I was just wondering, if you were going to polish through to the grain." Karen spoke, an amused smile playing at her mouth.

"Uh, I...I..." Haley stuttered as she began. "I'm sorry?"

"What's on your mind Haley?" Karen wondered. "What's going on in that head of yours?"

"It's nothing, well it's not nothing, but it's not important." Haley lied, looking away, because more than anything, she hated lying to Karen.

"It's important." Karen told her. "If it's in your head and it's making you clean the same spot for over five minutes, then it's important." she then pointed out.

Sighing, Haley dropped the cloth to the counter below her, abandoning it. _Much like Brooke did to me. _Shaking her head, she tried to clear her thought, there was no use getting negative. "I just have this problem." she finally replied.

"I'm always here to talk if you need it." Karen offered. "Is it about Nathan?" she guessed, which resulted in a loud laugh, causing the two customers left to look her way, for a second, before going back to what they were doing.

"No, no, it really isn't about Nathan." Haley let her know. "Nathan and I aren't even together anymore." she explained, surprising Karen.

"You're not?" Karen question, her voice clearly showing her surprise. "B-But, I thought you were both happy with him."

"Yeah, well see that changed when Nathan changed." Haley said. "We just don't want the same things." _Boy, ain't that the truth. Unless he's been hiding his Brooke obsession from me, then we really don't want the same thing, cause all I want is her._

"Was he moving to fast?" Karen wondered, she hadn't expected Haley and Nathan to break up, they seemed like a couple who could make it, but apparently not. Maybe in some other world they still were, but this wasn't another world and they were. Haley seemed surprisingly uncaring about it.

"Well you could say that." Haley answered. _Understatement of the century._

"Well I'm sorry to hear that Haley, are you ok?"

"I was, but now I'm not so sure."

"Do you miss him?"

"God no!" Haley answered venomly, once again surprising Karen. Sighing, she realised she would have to explain a little bit more, for her to fully understand, why she was glad to be away from Nathan. "You see Karen, at the start, everything with Nathan was so great, I was the happiest I had been then, than I had ever been in the past. But Nathan changed, and it wasn't for the better." she began, looking lost in thought for a moment. "Kitchen?" she asked suddenly.

"Excuse me?"

"Can we go into the kitchen? I don't want to have a conversation with two other people I don't know in the room." Haley explained.

"Sure we can sweetie." Karen agreed, walking behind the counter, following Haley.

Once in the privacy of the kitchen, Haley began again. "Karen, you remember what it's like at the start of a new relationship right?"

"Vaguley." Karen joked, causing a small laugh to escape from Haley.

"Well, that's what it was like with Nathan. I can honestly say, I was happy. Right up until everything went wrong. He changed so suddenly Karen, that I just didn't see it coming. I wish I had, then maybe I could have stopped him. But I didn't and I couldn't." Haley finished.

"What did he do to you?" Karen asked, her voice had taken on an edge.

Looking down, avoiding Karen's gaze, she wondered if she should tell her. It would be easier to lie and say he didn't do anything. Easier yeah, smart no, "He hurt me." was all she said. It was all she had to say, she knew Karen would understand, and she was right.

To Karen, Haley looked so small all of a sudden, changing in such an instant that she had blinked and missed it. Going with her sudden urge, she hugged Haley, pulling her tight, protecting her, like only a mother could. "You should have told me sooner. I would have helped you anyway I could."

"I know you would Karen." Relaxing into the hug, she hadn't done this in a long time, that she wasn't going to let happen again. Karen was the mom she always dreamed of, she loved her own mom, don't get her wrong, it was just, Karen was more motherly to her than her own ever was. She had grew up in Karen's home, talked to her when something was troubling her, she had experience everything with Karen that she had meant to with her own mother, so it was only natural when a mother-daughter bond had formed between them both. "But you see, I already had someone to take care of me." Haley told her.

"Who?"

"Brooke." Haley breathed out.

"Brooke." Karen repeated. "Brooke Davis?" she asked, her face now a picture of confusion.

"Yeah, Brooke Davis." Haley confirmed, pulling out of the hug she was in, starting to pace. "And that's where the problem comes in."

"I don't understand." Karen confessed, because truly she didn't.

"When Nathan hurt me, he _hurt_ me Karen." Haley spoke, stressing the word hurt, with a heavy sigh, she continued on. "And I don't just mean he gave me a slap on the wrists, more so a slap across the face. It was fun, I really enjoyed it," she explained further, smiling at Karen, only to wipe it off, seeing the look on Karen's face. She obviously didn't find her end to be funny. Now that she thought about it, it was a bit morbid. "He put me in hospital Karen," Hearing Karen gasp, she looked up, but carried on. "Only I couldn't exactly get there myself, so I did the only thing I could. I called Brooke. And she came through for me. Took care of me. She made me feel safe, when all I felt was pain and confusion."

"I don't know when it happened, hell I don't even know how it happened, but somehow, some way, she became all I ever wanted, all I ever really needed. I was majorly confused when I started feeling the way I did about her, I mean firstly it was Brooke Davis, secondly, it was a girl. I actually thought it could be down to hero worship, it made sense, she had figuratively speaking, saved me from the hell that was Nathan Scott, but it wasn't. Then the fact that she was a girl didn't bother me Karen, it really and truly didn't, she was just Brooke. She wasn't Brooke Davis, the most popular girl in school, the party wild child of the night, she was just...just Brooke. That really was enough."

"I never expected her to feel the same though, but she did. Being with her was like...I-I don't know, like being on cloud nine. The feeling you get in the pit of your stomach, when something great happens, was there all the time. When she was around, when she wasn't. When she wasn't around, she was all I could think about, an invasion of my thoughts, but they were so welcome. It was all going great, nothing in the world could touch us, not that anyone knew about us. We didn't want to tell anyone, and it wasn't because we didn't want to. It just wasn't the right timing. Plus there's no knowing, what Nathan would do if he found out. I dread to think."

"Today though, today started off great, I mean really, really great! It was blowing my mind that I was so happy. Brooke made me so incredibily happy. So that's why I'm confused why there isn't any me and Brooke anymore. It doesn't make sense to me. I wish it did, but it doesn't. She just said it wasn't going to work, that she couldn't do it anymore. And before you say maybe it was just an experiment of sorts, it wasn't, I know that much, Brooke isn't like that, she wouldn't do that. So I don't know what changed between this morning and today at lunch. I wanna know, so I can fix it, so I can get her back, because without her, i'm not much of anything."

"Maybe you should ask her." Karen suggested, a smile on her face. Sure this was unexpected news, but she had never heard Haley talk about something as passionately as she had of Brooke.

"I tried that," Haley answered with a hollow laugh. "I tried that so many times, that my fingers hurt from dialling her number...guess I forgot about redial huh?" she joked. "But she never picked up."

"I'm sorry to hear that." Karen told her.

"Did I do something wrong? Because if I did, I didn't mean too, I'll fix it, fix it as best I can, if that'll get me her back." Haley spoke, sounding helpless.

"Come here sweetheart." Karen told her, opening her arms, that Haley went willingly to.

"I just don't know what to do." Haley admitted, sniffling, her eyes brimming with tears. She hadn't cried yet, because she was sure it was a mistake, that Brooke would walk in and tell her that she had been wrong, but she hadn't, and now it was just hitting her.

"Haley, it's ok. If it's meant to be, then you will find a way." Karen told her. "I promise you."

"God, Karen, I just miss her!" Haley breathed out, frustrated. Pacing once more. "Which is impossible, because it hasn't even been a day!"

"The heart works in mysterious ways. No one can predict what it feels."

"That's true," Haley agreed.

"It'll work out," Karen, informed her. "From what you've said about Brooke, then she'll fix this for you."

"You really think so?" Haley wondered, her voice hopeful.

"I really, really do."

"Thank Karen. Thanks for letting me talk." Haley told her sincerely.

"It's what I'm here for sweetheart, anytime, day or night." Karen let her know, with a smile, watching as Haley gave her a small smile back. The ringing of the phone interrupted them, causing the moments silence between the two, to be disrupted. Walking over to it, Karen answered.

While watching Karen on the phone, Haley's mine went off into it's own world, one where her and Brooke were together still, where they were happy. Only good things happen there, there was no such thing as a bad thing. Bad, evil, vindictive, Nathan. Those things didn't exist. She wondered fleetingly, why that couldn't be this world, things would be so much easier then...but who said easier was fun?

"Haley?" Karen called out, pulling Haley from her thoughts.

"Yeah?"

"That was Deb, she's having some problem sorting out the paperwork, for last months income, and she needs me to head over and help her salvage her sanity. Can you close up? I know I wouldn't normal ask, but it sounds like she really needs my help and well, I won't go unless you're okay closing up without me..." Karen babbled on.

"Karen," Haley broke in, with a laugh. "I've closed up before! I know how to do it with my eyes closed. Go!" she ordered.

"Thanks Haley, you're a star!"

"Uh, Karen?" Haley spoke up just before the door closed behind Karen, making her look back. "Don't mention this to Debs ok?"

"Whatever you want, sweetheart." Karen answered, smiling sympathetically to Haley, before heading out.

**xxxx**

_Ok, standing outside, freezing my ass of, is so much fun! _She had been standing out there for about twenty minutes now, she had seen Karen leave five minutes after she had arrived. Why was she still standing outside? Why hadn't she gone in to talk to Haley? When had the weather got this bad? She didn't know the answer to any these questions. Well, she guessed cause she was scared of what Haley would say to her if she stepped foot into the cafe, that answered the first two, but she didn't know about the weather...weather wasn't really her thing, she only liked it when it was sunny.

Looking up, she noticed a man, the man that had been sitting in Karen's cafe had left, leaving Haley in there all alone. _This would be the perfect time to go in Brookie, she's all on her own! Looks like she's clearing up to, this could be your chance, no interruptions, no nothing. _Why was that voice always right? _Cause I'm awesome! _Pfft, she scoffed, in your dreams! _Our dreams are one in the same, and the only thing you've dreamt of recently has been that girl in there. Now move your ass and get on in there. _Maybe in a minutes. _Now!_ Ok, chill! I'm going!

And she was, her feet were moving, getting closer and closer to Karen's Cafe, it was dark in there now, that would be better, the darkness would hide the emotions pouring over her face.

I can do this, I really can. Good brain making my feet move! I love you brain. _O...k, now you're just freaking me out._

She was no more than three steps away from the cafe door, she was going to make this, she really was. That was until the lights suddenly came to life again, bathing if in a glowing light and Brooke was suddenly doing an about turn going back to where she had came from. Reaching a hiding place in the door way of another shop, Brooke blended into the shadows. Shaking her hands, she closed her eyes and breathed out. _What. Are. You. Doing. This, is not going to see Haley, this is chickening out and going in the complete opposite direction! Brooke Davis get a grip of yourself and get in that damn cafe now! Do you want to lose her? _...no. _I thought not, but you will if you keep on pulling this crap. I will kick your ass if you do not get in there right now. _

Taking another deep breath...or five, Brooke started walking again and when she was again three steps away from Karen's her feet kept on walking, and her hand opened the door and there she was standing in Karen's Cafe. She had to have been going solely on autopilot, because she knew if she had thought about this even for a millisecond, she would have been gone again. Looking around, she couldn't see Haley, which was good, she had time to get herself together...or maybe not as long as she thought as Haley pushed open door of the kitchen and came through.

"I'm sorry but we're closed." Haley stated. _What she's just going to be cold with me? Ignore me and send me on my way? It's nothing I don't deserve though. _Brooke thought to herself, before noticing that Haley hadn't even looked up since she had came through, she was still looking at the notepad that was in her hand. She had to smile at this, Haley was just so adorable that she couldn't express it with words, she would try though, try and tell Haley how she made her feel, how stupid she had been, how she needed her back. _Don't you hafta open you mouth to actual speak words? That'd be a start, won't it?_

"Haley?" Brooke spoke, her voice hardly above a whisper. She was right, her voice did sound scratchy, most likely because that had been her first word since, she had left Haley at lunch. She watched Haley's head snapped up, almost at a violent speed, finally realising who was in the cafe with her. _Does she look hopeful, or am I just crazy?_ _I'm just crazy, cause that looks like a pissed look in her eyes now. _Damn it.

"Brooke?"

And with that one word, there really was no telling what their future held before them, with each other or with no one but themselves.

**xxxx**

**End of Chapter 15.**

**Dun, duun duuuun! What's gonna happen next? Will Haley welcome Brooke with open arms? Will Brooke not say another word, and run out of there? Will an astirod from outer space hit just outside Karen's Cafe, trapping them both inside with no escape? Tune in next week and find out...ok but don't tune in next week cause that's like nearly Christmas and I don't plan to update till after Christmas at least! Sorry! **

**But, I hope everyone who reads this, enjoys it and I hope everyone has a great Xmaz and New Year. **

**And yanno, leaving a review is contribution to the world around us, it makes me happy, and less people get snapped at otherwise! jkin, but review, I hear it's good for the soul! **

**Peace out! **


	16. Chapter 16

**Disclaimer - **I so don't own any of the people used in here. Mainly Brooke and Haley (Bethany/Sophia), but boy do I wish I did! I just borrow them for a little bit and then put them back, hoping no one notices which in turn makes me not sued! Sound like a plausable excuse...hope it works.

**A/N - **Looks at last update, date. Whoa, that long really? Apologising seems kinda lame...I mean keeping you waiting that long was totally wrong of me...but I'm gonna apologise anyway. I'm so very, totally sorry! I never planned on making you wait that long, so sorry! If I can pass the blame on anyone, I blame writers block! I couldn't write and then it like hit me...and volia...here it is! So I'm gonna stop with the babble and let you read! So read!

**Chapter 16 – Oh, Woe is Me, Myself and I  
**

If this silence was going to last any longer, she was sure she was going to scream. Silence did not bode well for her. Silence meant disaster. There was no outcome where silence had a positive result. She was going to be another victim to this deathly silence. A victim of silence? How many people had silence claimed anyway? Maybe she would be the first...maybe not.

They were both just staring at each other. One blinking, one the master of un-blinking-ness, if you will. Had this really become what they were reduced to? She remembered a time, not so long ago – days ago actually – where they were so together that they were almost one. _How things change in a blink of an eye, _she mused to herself. All she wanted was answers, was that too much to ask? That didn't seem likely though, so she would just have to stay in the dark no matter how much she hated it.

She didn't know how long they had been in the positions they were in, but it felt like years. Like a statue of some important figure that everyone and anyone paid respect too. Of course she was exaggerating, because it hadn't been years – hours maybe, but not years. Time wise she was clueless, but she did know that her body hurt. Hurt so much, that moving caused little shooting pains all over her body, like little explosions, exploding underneath her skin.

Yet, she needed to move – so she did. Pacing was a more accurate word to describe what she was actually doing. Back and forth, to and fro, up and down, backwards and forwards. She was a one woman pacing machine - much like she had earlier, though she tried not to think of that, it wasn't a good memory. Blanking it out, she had to question the word order of back and forth. Didn't one have to go forth to go backwards? In any logical world, it was the only logic there was, stated in countless books – basically it was a well known fact. Yes, she was aware of how nerdy she was. She wasn't naive to the fact that she was a part-time nerd. So she liked...ok, loved to read and take in facts that boosted her knowledge. What was the world population gonna do – sue her? Suing her wouldn't suddenly result in the suer become rich beyond their wildest dreams – she was far from rich and all she had was a broken heart. If that's what they wanted they could gladly take it - she welcomed them to take it, if it took all the hurt away.

Sighing, she came to a sudden stop, throwing her body forward a little at the unexpected-ness of the movement. Pacing wasn't doing any good; she was just wearing out the carpet below her. She noticed then, that even thought she had gone all out pacing, they had stayed stock still, a complete opposite to herself. Narrowing her eyes, she glared their way and headed straight to the window.

She didn't know what was up with the weather, but it was pouring down. It hit the road outside so hard that she was sure it was bouncing right back up towards the sky. Her hand reached out and touched the glass of the window, right then, in that instant she envied the rain, wished she could be a single rain drop, so that she could be washed away. Just to disappear. Yeah, that sounded good. But she knew that would never happen. She was a realist after all.

Right at this moment all she wanted to do was escape. Spread her wings and fly, sore up into the clouds above and get lost in the endless sea of white. Closing her eyes she pictured doing just that, and for that minuscule amount of time it took to breath in and out, she was there, high above looking at the mess of the world below. She didn't care, the weight of the world wasn't on her shoulders anymore, her problems weren't important, her life was stress free and her heart was whole.

But often with dreams, you wake up, and she was no different. She found herself falling, picking up speed as she went, crashing back into consciousness, her eyes opening with a snap. Ah, cruel reality.

Sighing she move forward, and let her body fall onto her bed, she didn't know what she was going to do with Brooke. Their meeting at Karen's Cafe was...strained, towards the end. Looking over at the only other occupant of her room, she reached over and picked him up. Her faithful Mr. Waffles.

"Why don't you answer me, anymore?" She asked miserably. "I remember not so long ago, you told me the answer to everything." she paused and thought back to when it last was. "Ok, so maybe it was a little while longer than I thought. But I need your help." Haley begged. "Tell me what to do. Please?"

She knew it was hopeless, stuffed teddies didn't usually talk back. She wasn't crazy she knew that. She just needed answers. But he had helped her in a way, she had got home and just vented until she could vent no more. She needed someone to listen much more than she needed answers. "Thank you, Mr. Waffles."

The answers she had to figure out herself.

**xxx**

She could hear her parents move about, making noise in the usually silent house. She had come home, and they were just there. No forewarning or anything. They had just appeared, like unwanted guests, because when she looked at it that's what they were. Guests. This home, her home, was just a stopping place for them to recollect their bearings, look down on her and leave in the night. They would be gone in the morning, she was sure of that. They never stayed longer than a day. A rustle in the night and she would wake up to an empty house. No goodbye. No, I miss you or I love you. Just a void of emptiness.

No doubt, her mother would comment of her appearance. She had to admit she wasn't looking her best. A pair of sweat pants and a sweatshirt that was two sizes too big for her wasn't the best look she had ever showed off to the world. But at this moment she didn't care who was looking her way, she was hurting and she didn't care about make-up and fashion labels or anything in her life that wasn't Haley James.

She sat on her chair, in the living room of her house, lost in thought and with a notepad in her lap. The blank page in front of her was mocking her in its own special way. She had so much she wanted to say, to write but it just wasn't working. It was as if there was an invisible block preventing her from doing so. This was her niche – writing. The one thing she found she actually excelled at. Of course she kept it to herself. She didn't want to find out that she was actually bad at it. But sharing it with Haley...she'd take that chance.

Closing her eyes, she pictured her life. The cheerleaders. Peyton. Lucas. Everyone who wanted to be her. Everyone who hated her for who she was. The teachers who looked down on her, because she was failing their class. Her mother. Her father. People who judged her. People, who loved her, yet didn't know her.

_'Check out Brooke Davis man. How I'd love to tap that ass.' 'Oh my God, she's so superficial.' 'Brooke sweetie, if you ever want to get ahead in life, you have to take care of your appearance.' 'Ho's over Bro's.' 'Brooke, I'm sorry.' 'We didn't mean to hurt you.' 'Look we didn't plan any of this. It just happened.' 'She's so stupid.' 'I wish I was just like her.' 'Brooke you're failing maths.' _

Their voices blended together, invading her mind. Scathing. Critical. Stinging. Scrutinizing. Gawking. Gaping. Screwing her eyes shut tighter, until all she could see were blinding spots that meshed together. One face was left in the aftermath. Haley. That didn't surprise her.

_'Did she just call me Haley?' 'Brooke Davis! In my room? To what do I owe the pleasure of having your company?' 'My Knightess in shining Gucci, huh?' 'Brooke, I...I need your help.' 'Tigger.' 'Why do I get the feeling that I'm not going to like what you're about to say?' _

She hadn't even realised she had started writing. The words flowed onto the page, her messy writing leaving behind a message she was so desperate for Haley to hear...or read as it appeared to be. Her thoughts and feelings just poured onto the paper, like water falling into an endless bucket.

Before she knew it, her hand ached and the once blank page before her was no longer mocking. It was filled by countless words, in all shapes and forms. Her feelings were laid out before her, scrawled across the paper, for the world to see. She re-read it, making sure it made sense, before snapping the book before her shut.

Stretching, she listened as her bones cracked; releasing the tension she had built. Getting up, she headed to her bedroom. She was gonna deliver the letter today. Post it through Haley's letterbox and run away. Why? Because, she didn't know whether she could take seeing the look in Haley's eyes again. They gave her no hope what so ever. She had to make it right. She hadn't at the cafe that was for sure.

_"Haley?" Brooke spoke, her voice hardly above a whisper. She was right, her voice did sound scratchy, most likely because that had been her first word, after she had left Haley at lunch. She watched Haley's head snap up, almost at a violent speed, finally realising who was in the cafe with her. _Does she look hopeful, or am I just crazy? I'm just crazy, cause that looks like a pissed look in her eyes now. Damn it!

"Brooke?"

And with that one word, there really was no telling what their future held before them, with each other or with no one but themselves.

You have to talk you do know that right? Lips moving, words coming out…you know the universal way that is called speaking? _"Uh…I…uh…" Brooke stuttered, sighing at her sudden muteness. "So I realised I was a complete freaking idiot to let you go like that."_

"_Yeah, well I really loved getting dropped like yesterdays trash, can we do it all over again – maybe it'll hurt less this time!" Haley snapped, the last thing she had expected to see was Brooke, and there she stood in front of her. If she reached out, she could touch her. Seeing her standing there though, just brought back all that she had been feeling. Could she deal with this right now?_

"_Haley, I'm sorry," Brooke began._

"_You're sorry? You run away from me, you actually run away from me without the slightest inclination as to why, and you suddenly appear and say you're sorry?" Haley asked her disbelievingly. "Well I'm _'sorry'_ Brooke, but you can't just say you're sorry and have everything be ok….it doesn't work that way." she finished; turning away walking back towards where she had came from._

"_Haley, wait!" Brooke called out, hurrying to catch her, she reached out stopping Haley by grabbing her arm. "You don't…you can't...I had…I never…" Brooke stuttered out much like she had previously. _Why can't I ever just say what I want to say, damn it! _Brooke raged at herself_. This is Haley! Haley-oh-my-freaking-god-I'm-crazy-about-you-James, get you act together Brooke Davis and get your girl back! _Steeling herself, she let out a breath and looked at Haley. "Believe it or not, leaving you like that was the _'last' _thing I ever wanted to do." Brooke let her know._

"_You could have fooled me, you looked like a pro. Dodging all those students so, I couldn't catch up. Really Brooke, it was a masterful art form. If I wasn't so confused at the time, I'd have been in awe." _

"_I deserve that, and a heck of a lot more, I know that." Brooke surmised. "But I thought it was for the best…I didn't realize that it was nothing but a stupid ass mistake. Though seeing as I'm so prone to making then, I really should have seen it coming." she told Haley, with a humourless smile. _

"_So what you had an epiphany and you want to make things right?" Haley asked._

"_Not so much an epiphany as a moment of clarity. I don't know if they're the same thing or not, but I don't really care. But I do want to make things right with you Haley."_

"_How can you make it right?" _

_Scrunching her eyebrows together, Brooke looked puzzled. "I, ah, hadn't figured that out actually." she faltered. "I didn't have this big plan Haley. I don't have this grand gesture or pretty words that will win you back. I'm just me, and I know that it's not much, but I do have an explanation." _

"An explanation?" Haley repeated, looking dubious. "Well, let's hear it."

Whoa, she's giving me a chance. Don't blow it Brooke! _"Nathan." _Well jeez, if that wasn't just the lame-ass-tastic explanation ever! When I say the words don't and blow it, what exactly do you interpret that to mean? If I was someone else, I'd so be slapping you right now!

_Scoffing Haley turned away from Brooke and started walking away from her. _That was her excuse? Nathan? Wait, why Nathan? _Stopping, she turned back around, noticing Brooke less than enthused reaction to her own reaction to her '_explanation'. _"What do you mean Nathan?" she asked her confusion perfectly clear on her face._

_Sighing Brooke looked at Haley, really looked at her. _Why is it, when I'm around you I make the most un-sense ever? Oh, that sounds like a good opening! Say that to her! **What? And sound like a complete idiot? **And that's different from now, why? **Hmm, good point. **_"Haley…why is it, when I'm around you I make the most un-sense ever?" Brooke repeated her thoughts. "I mean when I was with anyone else I had no problem you know, speaking! But with you, god you just make me crazy! Not that, that's a bad thing," she backtracked. "Do you have this spell over me or something? I swear you have something over me…or maybe I'm so caught up in the amazing-ness that is you, that all my senses just refuse to work because they'd be hopelessly defeated trying to fight you." _

"I thought you didn't have pretty words." Haley pointed out. I swear if she says anything else, I might just cave and let this all be water under the bridge….damn she has the same effect on me that I have on her! Ok, Haley! Be strong, you can fight this mystical Brooke power! You can be immune to it!

"_I really don't Haley," Brooke told her truthfully. "If anything you just make them pour out. I'm helpless when it comes to you. Your touches, your kisses….just you in general," she explained, walking closer. "I mean, I don't know when it happened….but, damn it Haley look at what you do to me!" Brooke vented. "The Brooke Davis of then, would_ 'never'_ and I mean_ 'never'_ come here and try to explain why she was a complete ass, and pray that you take her back, because without you she's nothing but a empty shell, because she's seen what it's like to be with you and the prospect of being without you, scares her more than anything she could possibly think of._"

_Brooke babble was in full force and Haley swore that was all part of the Brooke charm. "I'm meant to be mad at you." Haley pointed out with a sigh. _

"_Meant to?" Brooke repeated, looking hopeful._

"_I don't think my brain functions properly when you're around…mush is pretty much all it ever is." _

"_Ditto, either that or as you just saw my mouth runs off on a tangent of its very own." Brooke pointed out, moving closer. "I tried you know, to keep you out of my head. I didn't work. It really didn't work; every thought was of you, telling me to make it right, craving your lips, wanting to hold you. I don't think I could have lasted another day without being with you...seeing you." Brooke explained, reaching for Haley's hand, entwining their fingers. Sighing happily, Brooke could not stop the smile that came over her face. _This is how it should be. Haley and I together. Life makes sense that way. **Damn Brooke, you sure do get sappy around this girl don't you? **It's Haley, wouldn't you? **Totally, I'd be crazy otherwise. **_"I missed you." Brooke whispered, leaning closer. She never stopped feeling the nervousness and anticipation each time she kissed Haley, this time was no different. Butterflies; check. Slightly sweaty hands; check. Dizziness; double check. _

Haley's breath hitched. She didn't know why, it wasn't her first time kissing Brooke. There was no stray pancake batter involved which led up to their very first kiss, and yet she couldn't stop the shaking that involuntary came upon her each time Brooke touched her. Right on queue, she felt her knees go weak. And as cliché as it was, she knew she could set her watch to that happening each time she was about to kiss Brooke. It wasn't a bad thing, she supposed if she didn't feel it, then that would mean she had grown tired of Brooke…and that just couldn't be possible. It was a simple impossibility. Like Nathan Scott being a pillar of society. Nathan…what had Brooke said about Nathan again?

_Seconds before she was asking that very question, Brooke's lips touched hers and anything she was thinking got lost in a haze. Pulling Brooke to her, Haley clung to her hungrily, craving Brooke like she craved air, only she wanted Brooke more. Nipping at Brooke's bottom lip, she tugged on it till Brooke opened her mouth and slipped her tongue into her own. They meshed together each doing the others opposite. Sighing into the kiss, Haley couldn't help the feeling that washed over her. It was like a rush of calmness had settled within her making her feel like everything in right in the world…well the world that consisted or her and Brooke. _

_Brooke was sure she'd died and gone to heaven or at the very most, she was dreaming, but smiling she knew it was real. The way Haley's nails grazed down her back pulling her as close as she could be, was one of the many facts that made it true. Their mouths fused together attacking each other urgently, making up for lost time. Her hands traced over Haley's body, memorizing each and every part of it, lingering at parts she knew would drive Haley crazy. Moaning into the kiss, she never wanted this to end. It was her forever perfect moment._

_Pulling back, Brooke rested her head on Haley's, smiling at her as she noticed she still her eyes closed._

"_Nathan?"_

Ok…what now? Nathan? Nathan? Excuse me…Nathan! _"Huh?"_

"_Nathan." Haley repeated. "Why was he your explanation?" Haley wondered, staring at Brooke._

Phew! Ok, I was over reacting! Why was Nathan my explanation? Well because he found….**Brooke, out loud! No speak in the head! She can't hear! **_"He knew about us Haley." Brooke told her._

"_What?" Haley asked in shock. _He knows! What the hell? How?

"_He knows about us Haley. He saw us kissing, it was a pretty big give away." Brooke explained. "He caught up to me at lunch and proceeded to tell me, that if I didn't stop seeing you, then he was going to make your life hell. He was going to hurt you so much more that he had." She spoke, with a sigh. She really didn't want to re-live that conversation, at all, ever again._

"_He told you, so you did it?" Haley asked disbelievingly._

"_I had to." _

"_Bullshit Brooke!" Haley snapped angrily, surprising Brooke. Rarely did Haley ever use swear words. "You didn't have to do jack! You could have told him to go to hell and came back to me. But no, not the mighty Brooke Davis, whose reputation might be compromised, if it's found out that she dated a girl!" _

"_Haley it isn't like that!" Brooke said, defending herself. "I didn't want you to get hurt! He threatened you I wasn't going to be the cause of why you got another beating at the hands of him!" _

"_Well that's mighty big of you Brooke! My saviour! But don't you think," Haley began through gritted teeth. "That I might like a choice in, oh I don't know, my life!" Throwing her hands up in the air she began to pace. "He's already done it before Brooke. What in the world do you think will stop him again? You leaving me? Sure, that might make it less of a challenge." she finished bitterly. _

"_I was trying to protect you. You didn't see him; you don't know what he was like." _

"_Brooke I don't need protecting anymore! I needed you, and you '_left' _me because he told you so? Do you know how much more pain I felt because of that, than anytime Nathan ever touched me in anger?" Haley ground out. _

"_Haley, I…" Brooke started; this was not how it was meant to happen! _

"_No Brooke," Haley spoke, looking at her; her eyes full of anger. "If all it took to let me go was Nathan telling you to, then I mustn't mean all that much to you, so just go. I really don't want to see you right now." _

"_Haley, don't!" Brooke protested._

"_Just leave." Haley told her, turning around and walking away. Brooke reached for her again, trying to stop her. Her hand caught Haley's arm, but that didn't stop her, Haley just pulled out of her grasp and disappeared, leaving Brooke standing alone._

She had got in to her car and now here she was, taking a breath, she looked in front of her - Haley's front door. The letter lay limp in her hand, an envelope covering it, shielding the words from any prying eyes. Reaching forward she lifted up the letterbox silently letting the letter fall through it and land on the floor. Dropping the letterbox, she about turned on her heel and rushed back to her car. So would call her actions as being chicken, but Brooke Davis was anything but chicken. She was delaying the inevitable, dragging out time from as long as she could. That wasn't being chicken, that was strategic reasoning…or at least that's what she told herself it was.

She started her car, put her foot down on the gas pedal and drove away, not once looking back. Maybe she should have, maybe she should have stayed, but it was already too late for that and she couldn't turn around and go back. Instead she kept on driving, all around town, lost in thoughts and memories. Only when she noticed she was low on gas, was when she drove home.

The house was empty, her parents had left earlier than she had expected. The house was silent again. Flinging her house and car keys onto the table as she passed it, she walked to the chair where she had sat earlier and, well sat on it again. Now she was just waiting.

**xxx**

She had the whole house to herself, Taylor and Peyton had got together to hang out. That was an unlikely friendship, she never saw coming. Peyton seemed to be spending more time with Taylor than she had been with Lucas, maybe they _were _secretly seeing each other! Haley had to laugh at that, it was amusing. Taylor just had this magnetic pull that had everyone around her wanting to hang with her. Apparently Peyton was no different.

Coming down the stairs she was on the way to kitchen when she noticed something on the floor. Pausing, she went over to it and picked it up. An envelope, no name, no nothing. Shruging to herself, she continued her walk to the kitchen. Dropping the letter onto the counter she made her way over to fridge and opened it, looking for something to eat. There was a lot of stuff, the fridge was full, but she knew what she wanted. The only thing that was worthy of eating; Mac and Cheese. Smiling she got everything ready.

Now she was bored. Watching Mac and Cheese cooking…well it wasn't the most exciting thing in the world. Looking around the kitchen she wondered what would keep her occupied. There were dirty dishes to be washed, she could do that…but she was bored, she just wasn't that bored. _Oh, radio! _Walking over to the kitchen radio, Haley turned it on, music flooded her ears and she felt compelled to dance along to it. Letting her mind forget everything that had happen she danced around the kitchen counter. It felt freeing, letting her hair down.

"_You're listening to 97 THZ, I'm your host Mel Walker, I hope you're enjoying the songs we're choosing and dancing along with us!" _The radio DJ, spoke out into Haley's kitchen unexpectedly, making her jump and back into the kitchen counter.

"Damn it," Haley cursed, watching as the envelope she had brought into the kitchen float across the floor. "Jeez Taylor, next time pick up your own damn mail!"

Walking over to it she picked it up again. _Who would just post a letter through a door, without a damn name on it? Maybe Taylor dropped it and forgot about it? Maybe someone thought they put the name on it, but didn't check? Maybe it's for you? _

That thought stopped her. It could be for her…but what if she opened it and it was for Taylor? Then Taylor would have to deal, it wasn't like Tay had never opened her mail by mistake. Walking back over to the counter she gave one last check on her Mac and Cheese and sat at opening the letter. She pulled the letter out and just as she went to read it she heard a crash from the front door. "What the hell?" she muttered, dropping the letter onto the kitchen top, heading to see what was causing the noise.

"Haley!" Taylor greeted her, laughing.

"Yeah Haley!" Peyton repeated, laughing along with Taylor.

"Stop copying me dude! You copier person you!" Taylor chasted.

"I am so not a copier! I'm a follower!" Peyton pointed out proudly, and then re-thought what she had said. "No…wait…hang on! I didn't mean follower! I meant…I meant…groupie?" she finished, causing Taylor to fall to her knee laughing loudly.

"Duuuude," Taylor drew out. "Follower, groupie…same thing!"

"Oh."

"Are you both drunk?" Haley asked highly amused.

"Uhhhh," Peyton giggled. "Maybe just the tiniest little bit! But I swear, we did absolutely not, never not, of the neverset, notest, accidentally run over Mrs. Lampson's garden gnome! We swear!"

"Peyton, shhhh!" Taylor told her, with wide eyes. "You weren't supposed to tell!"

"Oh yeah!"

"Guys seriously, you need to like go…I don't know…sleep or something!" Haley told them laughing.

"Uh, me thinks sooo!" Taylor agreed, grabbing her head. "My head is bad."

"Mine's to!" Peyton agreed. "Freaky!"

"Ok, you guys go sleep this off, and Tay when you wake up, there's a letter for you on the kitchen counter." Haley told her walking off towards the kitchen.

"Uh, no Haley's," Taylor shouted through to her sister. "I's gots the mail today! Bills! All bills!" she finished, getting to her. "Come on Peyt, up!" she instructed, pulling her friend to her feet. "Bed."

"Ooh, I love it when you get all aggressive." Peyton joked.

Laughing, Taylor made her way to the stairs. "Don't you just!" she joked back, missing the step. "Opppps, watch Blondie! Bad step! Came outta nowhere!"

Back in the kitchen, after turning off her Mac and Cheese, Haley picked the letter back up, if it wasn't for Taylor, then it had to be for her. Sighing, she opened it up and recognised the writing straight away. Brooke. Brooke had sent it? Brooke had came here and dropped it off? _Oh, yeah like that's what's important here Haley! Read the damn thing! _

So she did.

_Haley,_

_I'm sitting here, and I've been staring at a blank page for longer than I expected to. See, I thought writing my feelings on paper would be easier. But it's not. When it comes to you, nothing is easier. Not that I mind, easier isn't worth fighting for, you are. You said that if I gave you up because Nathan told me to, then you obviously didn't mean anything to me. That is far from any and every truth I have ever known. You mean the world to me. I just thought I was protecting you, that letting you go, would keep you safe. I was wrong, I admit it. It was a moment of insanity. We all have them, I'm not perfect._

_You're my addiction, did you know that? I'm powerless to stop you invading my senses. How can I give you up when you're my every thing? Do you know that when your lips touch my own it's like I'm floating on air and my heart constricts in a wonderful way. Your touches cause an intake of breath, sharp and slow, long and heavy. Contradicting. Always your way, not that I mind. Like I said you're my addiction and I myself merely an addict. I don't need help though, nor do I want any. All I need is you, feeding it, making me more dependent. Don't for one moment think of this as a bad thing, it's not. It's wonderful – mind blowing. Mine. _

_You're the only person who has ever given me that crazy, tingly overwhelming feeling in the pit of my stomach. Every time I see you it hits me like a wave hitting the shore. Powerful and never ending. _

_I hope I at least convey a little of what I feel for you in this letter Haley, I have so many other things I want to let you know. That snuck up on me, but writing them on paper wouldn't justify them. There's the face to face things that are important and need to be spoken._

_Granted, this letter might not make a whole lot of difference. But it's worth a try right?_

_I'll be here waiting,_

_Yours forever, _

_Brooke._

Haley was dumbfounded, speechless really. She never expected that. Brooke had a way with words, and those words were directed at her. Folding the letter carefully, she stood up in a daze she started walking, paying no attention where her feet lead her. She couldn't ignore the letter; she wasn't going to ignore the letter. Brooke meant to much to her and apparently the same was true with Brooke about her.

Realising where her feet were taking her, she quicken her pace until she was almost jogging…she didn't want to look like a fool and do a full out run. _Ah, to hell with it! _With that thought in mind, Haley's jogging picked up an even quicker pace and there it was; Brooke's house.

Walking up to the door she rapidly knocked on the door. _C'mon Brooke, answer the damn door! Answer, answer, answer, answer, answ…_ "Brooke."

"Hal…" Brooke managed to get out, before Haley leapt on her attacking her mouth, cheek, neck…any part of her with her own mouth. Moving them inside, Haley slammed the door shut behind them, before kissing Brooke again. Her hand traced Brooke's face, marvelling at its softness, sighing into the kiss, she realised this was where she always wanted to be. With Brooke. Screw Nathan and everyone else. Pulling back she looked at Brooke and couldn't stop the smile forming on her face. Realising then, that when every time Brooke was around her, her heart got quicker and quicker till it was racing. That had never happened to her before. So, that's what it felt like? That's what it was.

"I love you."

**End of chapter 16.  
**  
**Well, there you have it! After a whole four months and a bit I think...we get a happy ending...or is it? I mean we all know Brooke is 'addicted' to Haley...but does she love her? Will she screw it up? Will she laugh in Haley's face? Orrr will she tell Haley that she loves her to? **

**Tune in for the next update...whenever that maybe. **

Reviews are love 3


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N: - Well...hi. Okay, so basically I haven't really written any One Tree Hill in a long time, and this story was a casualty of that. But I don't want to leave my story unfinished, so I'm trying to get back into the swing of writing this story again. THis isn't like a huge chapter or anything, but it's something at least. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything.**

**Chapter 17**

Waking up with a bitch of a hangover was never the best feeling in the world, in fact she'd go so far to say it down right sucked ass. Closing her eyes, she effectively shielded them from the brash sunlight that dared to invade her room and in that instant all of last nights escapades came back to her with a vengeance, hitting her like a freight train with a ton of cargo. The last thing that she remembered was stumbling upstairs to her bedroom. She also remembered the events that brought her to the drunken stumbling: the wrong answer. Damn her for stalling, she just hadn't expected it. It had thrown her for a loop. Then she had been left all alone and in her unwanted solitude her mind had mocked her stupidity and she had found a bar and drink after drink had followed. At the time she had been to far induced in her self pity that when someone slipped into the stool next to her and proceeded to fill her glass with what seemed like an endless flow of alcohol, she wasn't going to complain. Drink drowned her stupidity after all and she needed to forget.

Bringing a hand up she gingerly let it soothe her forehead, but without much success. Letting her eyes open again she took in her surroundings and if she had the energy to do so, she would have smiled. Simply for the fact that it was her own bedroom she found herself in. If she was a more honest person, especially to herself, she wouldn't have been surprised if she had woken up and it was an entirely different bedroom that was surrounding her. If it was her room though, as it appeared to be, she had had enough sense to not royally screw up her life. She could fall back asleep without having to worry about finding her clothes and silently sneak out of wherever she had found herself. Though now that she thought about it…where were her clothes?

She let her hand run down the sheet that covered her and for the most part she could tell that bar from the sheet that covering her, she was naked underneath. _Oh god what in the hell have I done?_ She thought as panic rushed through every fibre of her. _Maybe it isn't as bad as I think. Maybe I just got home...somehow...and felt like sleeping naked..._Yeah, that had to be it, she reasoned with herself. But that niggling voice was helpful to point out that the sky was blue and pigs also flew.

She didn't dare turn her head to the side in fear of what or in this case who she would find. So she settled for laying there for another few seconds in her dread before turning her head to see if any clothes, other than her own occupied the floor. Her eyes scanned the floor in a scrutinising fashion and she was almost home free until she spotted one shoe too many. She also took into account that she would never be caught dead in that offending shoe either, which was really the furthest thing she had to worry about. _This isn't happening. It can't be. _Denial was her friend. _Maybe I, I just stole the shoe from someone and that's why it's here! _Apparently denial sent you screaming into the world of insanity. But she'd really take the insanity over having someone in her bed, she begged for that lapse in her sanity at the moment, but movement next to her proved that she was fully sane and responsible for all consequences that no doubt followed.

Though if she made her escape now maybe she could delay those consequences a little longer. Leaving behind the sheet she slipped on some pants and a t-shirt, now all she had to do was make it to her bedroom door and close the lid on this nightmare…for now at least. Throwing a look towards her bed she noticed a head-full of blonde hair snuggled into her pillow without a care to the world. _Figures I'd go for a blonde, _she thought fleetingly. Her objective now was to pass her bed, not wake Miss Blondie up, make it to the door and then hide until the rest of the world came knocking on her door. It was a valid plan wasn't it?

As silently as she could she started shuffling towards the door. If she had been paying more attention though she may have noted the upcoming bag handle that got caught around her ankle thus propelling her forward and onto the floor with an audible bang. She muttered a curse and cringed expecting the worse, but there was no movement from the bed. And so she carried on her now crawl towards the door knowing she was almost home free, but things in life are never that easy and the blonde in the bed had a thing for delayed reaction as she suddenly shot up with a gasp, only to still to the point where she could give a statue a run for its money. Groaning she didn't dare look back to see who was in her bed, she'd just stay still and hope that she wouldn't be noticed, that she'd blend into the scenery.

"Taylor?" the voice rang out utterly confused. "Why the hell are you on the floor…and wearing my t-shirt?"

_I know that voice!_ Grinning, Taylor almost did a happy dance at hearing Peyton's voice and then forgetting the instant relief that washed over her she began to berate her brain for its sudden bout of amnesia, and the heart attack it almost induced. Though now that she had time to think it over she did have to wonder one thing. Turning her head and facing Peyton for the first time that morning the question flew from her lips. "Why the hell were we in bed together?" Enquiring minds wanted to know, not that it was such a profound event. "And why were we naked?"

Yeah, now was a time for silence.

**Umm...yeah, so that's it for now. I do have the start of the next chapter...so hopefully it won't take as long to update. Feel free to review if you like.**


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